The Forum at Eckenberg Gymnasium

Adelsheim, Germany

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The Forum at Eckenberg Gymnasium

Adelsheim, Germany

Firm

Ecker Architekten

Type

Educational › Other

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

The Forum at Eckenberg Gymnasium, Adelsheim
Ecker Architekten

Ecker
Architekten are pleased to announce the completion of the Forum at the
Eckenberg Gymnasium in Adelsheim, a project of the Baden-Württemberg Department of Property
and Construction - Heilbronn Office. Construction began in late
2011.

Integration
into thespatial
and educationalenvironment

The
extensive campus of the Eckenberg Academy is located on a scenic hillside
overlooking the town of Adelsheim. The entire campus consists of 11 individual
buildings from the 1960s and 70s. The solitary two and three-story buildings
line the slope in a regular fashion; but this regularity lacks a visible
hierarchy, and no perceivable campus center is evident. A deficiency of
flexible, unallocated indoor space meant that the student body had insufficient
opportunities for social gathering, and extra-curricular activities offered by
the academy were extremely limited.

The new
Forum addressed these concerns through the establishment of a central campus hub.
The new building joins two existing structures on six different levels. It contains
an auditorium, a library, various multi-function rooms, a student lounge, and a
café. The building stands as a single volume, articulated through the
integration of various points of entry at multiple levels; with spaces at the
ground level defined by transparent partitions.

The 1,000-square-meter facility consists of three superimposed
levels that extend differently into the auditorium.
The ground floor is in direct relationship to the street and the public realm. A
generous, albeit dark and compressed foyer leads to the
surprisingly light-filled auditorium.

The
main space opens directly to a terrace at the street level and connects the
existing classroom building to the lower level with a ramp and a broad
staircase. The library and study rooms abut the existing classroom building,
the mechanical room below the Mensa, and an outdoor reading garden. The west
entrance provides a split-level connection to the auditorium below; and to the
café, lounge, and internet stations above.

Design
ideaandformal qualities

The framing structure of the
building is a three-axis lacunar concrete slab supported by three
rotationally-cast concrete columns. The slab is articulated through a variety
of cycloidal coffers, some of which accommodate transparent skylights. The
coffering reduces the actual weight of the supporting structure while demonstrating the
physical depth of the construction.The skylights ventilate the space, provide acoustic absorption, and
contain integrated lighting to illuminate the space by day and night.

A battery of slender, tapered
steel columns integral to the curtain wall façade transfer the remainder of the
roof loads. A meter-wide glazed roof along the perimeter between the new and existing
buildings lends a lightness to the room that contrasts the massive character of
the materials used in construction. The resulting play of light and shadow – of the monolithic
and the immaterial, strikes a balance between the construction of a modern
solitaire and the formation of a distinctive local building ensemble.

Socio-cultural qualities

The
Forum is a flexible building that permits a variety of uses. The main space is
designed to accommodate occasional formal gatherings. For the opening
ceremonies, the “Catwalk”- a wide bridge with illuminated glass flooring that
is normally used as the main entrance to the building, became an impromptu
stage for the school’s ‘Big Band’. A terrazzo ramp running along the edge of
the auditorium ensures accessibility for the disabled, and is large enough to
facilitate the transport of a piano to the upper level of the main space.

The
Forum provides places to see and to be seen. The reading tables in the library
overlook the multi-function rooms, and permit an unobstructed view of the space
above and beyond. The corridor in the library provides a visual connection to
the study room, the conference rooms, and to the catwalk above.

The
ceiling below the so-called “Autobahn Bridge” connecting the Forum with the
existing classroom building echoes the character of an American movie marquis.
This element marks the entrance to the library. The cylindrical column adjacent
to the library entrance is deliberately over-dimensioned, creating a conspicuous
information column where advertisements and notices may be posted.

Material
transformation, sustainability and technical accommodation

The
entire enclosure is rendered in CEM-III concrete. The fly-ash content of this
material presents a lighter appearance than that of standard concrete mixtures.
To exhibit the beauty, economy, and character of this raw material, a large portion
of the building remains as an exposed concrete construction.

The
exterior cladding at ground level is a mill-finished aluminum rain-screen façade.
The horizontal cassette establishes a plinth that contrasts markedly with the transparency
and verticality of the upper-storey fixed glazing. Standard aluminum curtain
wall profiles were polished to lend the entire building an elegant character.
Exterior sun screening is hidden behind spandrel glass panels, which are
articulated in order to correspond with the depth of the roof slab beyond.

White
terrazzo flooring is used throughout the building. The
three rotationally-cast columns support the roof and enclose the rainwater
drainage of the building are bush-hammered to expose the various textures of
the aggregate and matrix of the concrete. Standard walk-off mats are used at the main entrances,
laid to give the impression of generous carpets. Modular acoustic panels absorb
sound, add color, and bring a subtle material contrast to the spaces.

The
entire ground floor slab is insulated from below. In-floor heating pipes are
installed between the layers of reinforcing bars, allowing the mass of the
concrete to be used for thermal mass activation. The building takes advantage
of natural cross-ventilation, enabled through large fields of operable glass
louvers. Additional ventilation is
provided by operable skylights in the main roof slab. Stainless steel
micro-louvers integrated into the curtain wall are used for exterior
sun-control.

Twenty
double- focus Metal-Halide lamps illuminate the entire floor area of the
auditorium. Task-specific lighting is provided by a combination high-output
fluorescent and LED sources.

Ecker
Architekten led the interdisciplinary design team that includes:

Rehle
Engineers, Stuttgart - Structural engineering
Kist Engineering,
Mosbach – Structural analysis and inspection
CARPUS+Partner,
Ulm- Mechanical and electrical engineering
Belzner
Holmes, Stuttgart - Light Design Engineering
Krämer-Evers,
Osnabrück – Acoustic engineering and building physics
Fotografie Brigida
González, Stuttgart - Architectural photography

Ecker Architekten - Office Profile

Ecker
Architekten, founded in 2000, has offices in Heidelberg and Buchen. The
practice provides full architecture, planning and interior design services,
with special emphasis on public sector projects. Ecker Architekten is
multilingual and multicultural, currently employing staff from 6 countries.
Diversity is the practice’s greatest resource and is fundamental to a
continuous broadening of design vision.

The
practice is driven by a consistent philosophical approach, distilling a
project into elemental components to uncover new possibilities in built form. The firm actively
participates in every phase of the planning and construction process in order to realize
buildings of the highest quality possible. Ecker Architekten integrates the development
and use of innovative construction methods and materials while building
responsibly; striving for a contemporary architecture that ages with grace.
When these efforts are successful, the result is an unexpectedly simple
construction, an economic and sensuous use of materials, and a qualitative
transformation of the ordinary.

For
more information, please visit http://www.ecker-architekten.de