High-tech timber construction of superlatives - School Wiesental Baar
15.04.2024
From 2022 to 2027, the Wiesental school in Baar will be replaced by four new buildings. The east building is currently being realized. A triple gymnasium is being built in the middle of two flanking head buildings, over which an imposing, two-storey truss will span as a supporting structure.
The construction of the Wiesental school building is one of the largest municipal projects in the municipality of Baar/ZG in recent years. At a cost of around CHF 100 million, several new school buildings will be built, including rooms for supplementary school care, an assembly hall, a library and four kindergartens. In addition, an extensive triple gymnasium will be integrated in the middle of the flanking head buildings.
Architecture: PENZISBETTINI. Architekten ETH/SIA GmbH
© Visualizations: Nightnurse Images AG
The winning project «Domino» by architects PENZISBETTINI. Architekten ETH/SIA GmbH, Zurich, consists of four buildings. The main building, east house, accomodates the classrooms for secondary levels I and II as well as the triple gymnasium. The west building contains the kindergartens and the lower school. The north building contains the assembly hall, library and IT department, while the south building houses the supplementary school care and the janitor's apartment.
The project is being realized in several stages. First, the old gymnasiums and other facilities were demolished to make room for the east building, which is currently under construction. The demolition of the remaining buildings and the construction of the north, south and west buildings will follow. School operations will be maintained during the construction period.
The main east building is 97 meters long and around 35 meters wide. The building programs are currently being erected. The two basement floors made of reinforced concrete house the technology, a sports hall and the underground parking garage. Above this, three storeys made of wood are being built for the school. A two-storey truss (primary and secondary structure) will span above the triple gymnasium as a supporting structure, which will be one of the largest timber trusses ever built in Switzerland. Length 33.36 m, height: around 8 m. Forces of up to 1300 tons will act on the truss diagonal. The teams of timber construction professionals from BISANG Holzbau AG and Kost Holzbau und Gesamtbau processed over 2,500 m³ of timber into the building program within just six months. In addition to a lot of technical high-tech on the construction site, this is also a strong commitment to sustainable construction with wood. This is how active climate protection works.
The construction of the new Wiesental school building is of great importance for Baar due to the expected increase in pupil numbers and the growth in extracurricular care. The triple gymnasium also contributes to solving the shortage of halls.
Wooden school buildings are environmentally friendly and efficient. The Wiesental school demonstrates that even very large and extensive educational projects can be realized with wood, as the building material is sustainable and stores CO₂. Due to the high degree of prefabrication, timber buildings are often erected faster than those made of other materials, which means that the rooms are available to pupils earlier and are therefore preferred by progressive communities.