haus der kinder Nursery School, innsbruck A

Transcription

1 haus der kinder Nursery School, innsbruck A

2 Project description The nursery school fits perfectly into the context of swimming pool, youth centre, retirement home and residential building. The large roof affords the group rooms protection from the elements, whilst the large-surface windows of the passive house let daylight flood the rooms. The generous glass partitions on the inside encourage visual contact. Solid binderholz CLT BBS elements were used to create walls and ceilings and have been left visible to the eye. The arrangement and design of the rooms are what make the nursery school a highlight among timber constructions in the public sphere. It is a prime example for the use of timber in structures of significant public importance, in particular in nursery school and school buildings. Building owner IIG Die Immobiliengesellschaften der Stadt Innsbruck l Architecture helmut reitter architekt d.i. Support structure planning zsz Ingenieure l Contractor Schafferer Holzbau l Energy Passive house standard Period between excavation and handover 12 months Shell prefabrication 4 weeks Shell assembly 2 weeks Roof water-tight 3 weeks after start of assembly Building shell sealed 6 weeks after start of assembly Interior finishing 4 weeks Materials used: Solid wood binderholz CLT BBS 630 m³ Timber panels m² Acoustic elements m² Wood shuttering 700 m²

3 Nursery school 03 This new urban development in Innsbruck is home to many families with children. And they need a crèche, a nursery school, a day centre and a youth centre. This winning submission to an urban development competition was built by Innsbruck architect Helmut Reitter. With the exception of a concrete foundation, the Haus der Kinder is a pure passive house made of timber yet characterised nonetheless by an airy, transparent architecture suffused with light. The building comprises 14 cm thick binderholz CLT BBS with glulam joists across the support axes. Every detail was planned from a child s perspective. Architect Helmut Reitter The group rooms on the ground floor have room-high window fronts that open up onto generously dimensioned, covered terraces and intimate atriums created by the partitioning rooms that stretch into the building like drawers in a chest. Even the corridors are friendly, light-flooded play areas thanks to skylights. They are furnished with colourful tables, benches and pills that are as innovative as they are functional, designed specifically for this environment and its little inhabitants. The otherwise dominant colour is the white glaze on the wood floors and (acoustic) ceilings of the house that makes one want to be a child. The first floor is reserved for older children, adapted to their needs with rooms for learning and socialising, including secretive spaces to withdraw. The Haus der Kinder and the Jugendtreff youth club are two further facilities erected on the Tivoli site and completed in autumn The site s privileged position as a part of the large, green Tivoli Lung between the swimming pool, sports facilities and the green belt in front of the residential complexes led to a transparent design and the concept of Pavilions in the Park. Haus der Kinder The building to the south, constructed in solid cross-laminated timber, is the Haus der Kinder containing the nursery school and crèche on the ground floor and an after-school care centre to the north of the upper floor. A wide central corridor connects the rooms on the ground floorand serves as a cloakroom with seating islands. Communal areas such as the movement room and children s restaurant are located to the east of the corridor. All group rooms face west towards the long veranda, which is protected by a cantilevered roof. Smaller room units located between the large group rooms protrude into the corridor area; this design feature throws light into the access area whilst forming small protected atriums on the terrace side. The group rooms consciously strike up a direct, intervisible relationship with the public park through glass-dominated external walls. The decision in favour of the passive standard was made relatively late in the planning process and brought with it significant changes, in particular with regard to optimising the building shell (glass elements) and other design details. The architect s aim was to disprove the often-heard prejudice that passive houses are automatically designed as bunkers with arrow slits as windows whilst providing the children and young grown-ups with a light-flooded, ecologically exemplary environment. Extra-familial child care is currently a much-discussed topic in Austria s media, broaching subjects such as teacher training, the size of groups and the number of available spaces. Yetit seldom addresses the quality of the rooms, despite the fact that the nursery school offensive has triggered an enormous amount of construction activity. Whether nursery school, day-care centre or crèche many countries, such as Finland or Norway, prefer to construct these buildings using timber. But Austria also offers sufficient alternatives to nursery schools in metal containers. Nursery schools made of wood reflect the sensuousness of the material, how quickly they can be built, their energy-saving potential, how they add value to the region and other economically significant concerns, and a desire of those involved to set an example for the children. Every detail is important in an environment where children grow up, including the quality of the materials surrounding them. Wood plays an obvious and important role: toys made of wood, wooden furniture and wooden surfaces all have their place in the lives of children. This is where the naturalness of the material, its feel, warmth and the atmosphere it conveys come into their own..

4 Plans Photo: helmut reitter architekt d.i. Cross-section, top floor layout plan, ground floor and basement

5 Nursery school 05 binderholz CLT BBS with aduo roof structure Timber nogging wall with blow-in cellulose insulation and soft wood fibreboards Non-load-bearing interior parapet walls in solid wood Load-bearing interior walls in binderholz CLT BBS, visible grade on one or both sides Photo: Schafferer Holzbau

6 Photo: Schafferer Holzbau Study school without stress Research scientists at Joanneum Research in Graz (A) wanted to find out the extent to which a timber interior would have a positive effect on the learning behaviour of pupils. In the course of renovation work at the Haus im Ennstal secondary school, two classrooms were given a non-standard wooden interior (oiled parquet flooring instead of linoleum, spruce and pine panels instead of gypsum plasterboard on ceilings and walls, light diffusers made of Swiss stone pine instead of strip lights with mirrored louvers). During the course of a year the researchers compared the heart rate and vagal tone of the children in the wooden classrooms with those of pupils in standard classrooms. Ten pupils from each class took part in the experiment and had their heart rates measured every second month during a 24-hour EEG. The results show that the pupils in the wooden classrooms displayed the same concentration levels and score performance as their counterparts but required on average 8,000 fewer heartbeats per day; they also had a higher vagal tone, which is beneficial to the heart. It is a well-founded pilot study, says Prof. Maximilian Moser, study director and head of the Institute for Non-Invasive Diagnostics. However, a repeat study at other schools and a crossover measurement design, i.e. the same trial participants taught in a standard classroom and again in a wooden classroom, would be important to verify the observed results.

7 Changes in daily heart rate Control Class vs. Solid Wood Class Control Class Wood Class 8,600 fewer heart beats per day! Summary of results Heart rate: Fell in the wooden classroom group and rose in the standard classroom group during waking hours Vagal tone (cardioprotective factor): Rose in the wooden classroom group and fell in the standard classroom group during waking hours Social demands placed on pupils by teachers: remained constant in the wooden classroom group and rose in the control group School achievement and concentration performance: no differences between the two groups, although there were fewer concentrationerrors in the wooden classroom group First medical evidence that wood as a construction material has a positive effect on human health Pupil aggressiveness fell significantly Greater readiness to learn and fewer concentration-related errors Better teaching quality through less disruptive pupils

8 Binderholz Bausysteme GmbH A-5400 Hallein/Salzburg fon fax GB