New elementary school Grünstraße in Velbert

“The House of Learning” is the new lively and friendly home for pupils in Years 1 – 4. The new building is divided into two separate buildings for school and sports,
which form the framework for a central schoolyard. The orientation of the new building towards the neighboring Martin Luther King School also creates the image of a campus and strengthens Grünstraße as a school location. The school includes overlapping areas such as the foyer, canteen, administration and multi-purpose rooms as well as three mini-schools. The spacious, three-storey foyer with adjoining canteen and main staircase becomes the multifunctional heart of the school and invites people to meet and linger. The open façade of the canteen creates a new address facing Grünstraße. The mini-schools offer space for cross-grade learning. Small homes are created that promote individual learning, communication and cohesion with a bright, open design.

The sports hall forms the face of Kurze Strasse. Here, the topography of the site is used and transferred to the building. The hall area is located at the level of Kurze Straße and therefore slightly below the schoolyard. An inserted split-level foyer provides access to the two-storey ancillary areas and connects both the schoolyard and Kurze Strasse at ground level. The overarching design idea is to merge the various uses into one ensemble. The school and sports hall are thus presented in a uniform design, accentuated with colorful elements that allow the childlike character and the varied everyday school life to shine through.

The design for the outdoor facilities responds to both the existing trees and the planned building structures, the sports hall on Kurze Strasse and the building for the elementary school on Grünstrasse. A harmonious unity is created, particularly with regard to the form and function of the new buildings, as well as the adjacent existing cubatures of the Christuskirche and Martin Luther King School buildings.

During the planning phase, great importance was attached to optimizing energy requirements. The buildings were planned according to the “Efficiency Building 40” energy standard in accordance with kfW funding conditions.

Heat is generated entirely by brine-to-water heat pumps connected to a geothermal probe field beneath the courtyard. Heat is distributed via underfloor heating and via radiant ceiling panels in the sports hall. The interior rooms of the school, the kitchen and the sports hall will be equipped with a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.

The electrical power is supplied via a new customer-owned compact station on the medium-voltage side. From the compact station, the low-voltage side
school and sports hall buildings. The lighting uses LED technology.

A PV system with approx. 230 kWp will be installed on the extensively greened roof areas of the school and the sports hall.

The rainwater is initially retained on the roof surfaces and most of the run-off water is infiltrated via infiltration trenches located on the property (“sponge city”).