Construction work on new school campus in Heilbronn in full swing
Photo: SCS (Schwarz Campus Service GmbH & Co KG)One of Germany’s largest and most modern school campuses is currently being built in Heilbronn: the internationally minded, bilingual Josef Schwarz School. The new building on the former site of the German Federal Garden Show combines three separate schools on a gross floor area (including parking garage) of around 48,000 m²: one private primary school as well as two private secondary schools (level I and II). The design for the attractive and welcoming school campus is by Behnisch Architekten of Stuttgart.
The new Josef Schwarz School consists of three pavilion-like structures with up to six floors. The ground floor, which connects the three buildings with each other, will accommodate communal areas such as a cafeteria, an auditorium and a gymnasium as well as the main foyer. Above the ground floor, the school will be built as a steel-wood hybrid structure. In addition to the three types of school, the campus will also house a boarding school for upper-level students, two large sports halls, school gardens, terraces and landscaped open spaces.
Steel construction and carpentry work go hand in hand
The design principles are repeated in each component/structure and on each floor, with cross-laminated timber elements arranged between steel beams supported on steel and timber columns.
“We are right on schedule – despite the fact that we have to install an unusually large amount of material in a very demanding schedule. The key is to precisely coordinate the delivery and assembly of the timber and steel elements. Our ZÜBLIN Timber team is working hand in hand with the team from ZÜBLIN Steel Construction to achieve this goal,” says Jan-Ole Bergmann, project manager at ZÜBLIN Timber.
ZÜBLIN’s scope of services includes, among other things, the production and assembly of the ceilings and roof structures made of LENO® cross-laminated timber as well as the extensive steel structure. The steel and timber construction work, combined with the bracing concrete cores, forms the load-bearing structure of the upper floors. In total, around 6,700 m³ of cross-laminated timber, 160 m³ of larch glulam columns and around 1,500 t of steel will be used for the wood-steel hybrid building in Heilbronn.
Focus on sustainability
The hybrid design makes an important contribution to the climate-friendly construction of the building. Wood is a renewable raw material that binds CO2. For the Josef Schwarz School, ZÜBLIN Timber only uses wood, wood products and wood materials that are FSC- or PEFC-certified and come with CoC (Chain of Custody) certification. DGNB platinum certification is being sought for the Josef Schwarz School, which places high demands on the materials used.
When the building is completed, a geothermal system for heating and cooling as well as a photovoltaic system will ensure a sustainable energy supply during operation. The conscious decision was made not to use a conventional air conditioning system. Thermal comfort is provided by a large-surface heating and cooling ceiling system consisting of clay panels and through the use of wood.
After completion of the school campus in September 2024, the new building of the Josef Schwarz School will provide space for 1,000 students.
