At Glemstalschule Schwieberdingen-Hemmingen in south-western Germany, there were many occasions to celebrate at the beginning of the new school year. When the students returned after the summer break they moved into the completed extension, which was inaugurated at an official opening ceremony on October 21. In September, a farewell party had been held for the old building, on which renovation work started in October following a delay for animal welfare reasons. However, the project partners managed to complete the extension a month earlier than planned, without any additional costs. Until 2025, a total of 28 million euros will be invested in the modernization of the comprehensive school’s campus in order to make it ‘fit for the future’. Project participants are Goldbeck Süd GmbH as general contractor, Stuttgart-based architectural firm Auer Weber and Drees & Sommer.
Before construction work on the existing Glemstal school building could start on the planned date in August 2022, forty small bats temporarily threw the plans into disarray. Roughly thumb-sized and a strictly protected species, the pipistrelles were using the façade of the building as a nursery for their offspring. They could not be relocated until after the end of the breeding season, which meant the start date for the renovation work had to be postponed. Construction work finally began in May 2022. After completion of the new building with around 6,800 square meters of space and the start of lessons for pupils in their new class rooms at the beginning of the school year 2023/2024, modernization of the remaining roughly 27,000 square meters campus area started. A major challenge here is how to carry out the construction work during school hours.
Drees & Sommer supports the construction and modernization project with services ranging from the feasibility study, 360-degree analysis through project management and controls to advice on engineering and building management. In addition, the team was involved in the combined ‘planning and building’ award process.
For more information see our press release.