Project competition grammar school Ländtestrasse Biel / Bienne, 2006

143 Competition grammar school Ländtestrasse

The school complex of the German and French grammar school on Ländtestrasse in Biel was built by the Biel architect Max Schlup between 1976 and 1981. It represents an important symbol of the southern Jura foothills architecture, also known as “Solothurner Schule” or “School of Solothurn”. Building services and building envelope had reached the end of their service life, rising maintenance costs required an “inevitable” overhaul. In a project competition, the contradictions between the preservation of historical monuments and energy-efficient renovation were to be resolved. An external sun protection would destroy the tectonic expression of the facility, it would also not make sense technically and constructively in view of the exposed location, which is exposed to strong winds. Therefore, it is proposed to replace the facade and bring it up to the current state of the art. The dimensioning of its elements, light level of the windows and the colour scheme should remain as close as possible to the existing building. As an acceptable concession to the original, every other window element can now be opened as tilt opening vents. By using innovative building services, the interior sun protection can be maintained. The space in between the window is ventilated as with a box-type window.

Schoolyard facing existing facades

Sports hall, Max Schlup 1981

Projektinformationen

Client

Bau-, Verkehrs- und Energiedirektion des Kantons Bern

Timeline

2006 Competition

Architecture

Romero & Schaefle Architekten, Zurich
Team: Franz Romero, Markus Schaefle, Gabriel Wyss

Structural engineering

Ernst Basler + Partner AG, Zurich

BUILDING PHYSICS

Meier Bauphysik AG, Dällikon

VISUALISATION

Hans Peter Rusch, Luzern

PHOTOGRAPHY

"Werk, Bauen+ Wohnen" Beno Dermond Zürich; Romero Schaefle Partner Architekten AG