Construction of the new Ingeborg Herrmann School building
Pforzheim, DE
New construction of a movement-focused kindergarten composed of interlocking wooden cubes, accommodating seven groups for both over-3 and under-3 children.
The new building replaces the existing structure and integrates harmoniously into the sloped topography of the site. It combines a functional bar containing classrooms and specialist rooms with an open, multi-storey learning hall that provides spaces for communication and collaboration.
The terraced architecture on the east side creates generous outdoor areas and continuous balconies projecting two metres beyond the façade, giving the building its distinctive horizontal character. Particular attention has been paid to the detailed structural design and modelling of these continuous balconies, with their numerous connection details.
The load-bearing structure is designed as an economical and resource-efficient skeleton frame. Regularly arranged beams in both longitudinal and transverse directions reduce the volume of concrete and allow for slender floor slabs. In the terraced façade areas, inclined columns and transfer beams ensure efficient load transfer and column-free spaces.
The entire building is founded on isolated and strip footings with locally deepened sections to reach load-bearing soil layers, ensuring a material-efficient and sustainable construction approach.
In addition, a construction sequence plan for the shoring works was developed for the project. The inner-city setting and the hillside location of the existing building complicated the process and required precise coordination of demolition, temporary support, and backfilling works to ensure the stability of the adjacent streets and buildings. The use of heavy equipment and the planning of the necessary working areas also had to be carefully considered.
