Award-winning new school building made of wood

The IGS Rinteln in wood-concrete hybrid construction impresses both from the outside and inside with its climate-friendly architecture.

The new IGS Rinteln building in Weserbergland, Lower Saxony, is nothing like the ugly concrete blocks from the 1970s that many people still think of when they picture a "typical" school building. The special feature: The two-storey building with a floor area of 9,315 square metres and a usable area of more than 5,000 square metres is made almost entirely of wood.

The Schaumburg district as the developer was recognised for this "climate-friendly architecture, which is visually and sensorially tangible both inside and out" in the "Deutscher Architekturpreis 2023" (German Architecture Prize) competition, which the Stuttgart architectural firm bez + kock architekten commissioned with the planning was also delighted to receive. The new building also received an award in the BDA Preis Niedersachsen 2023, 1st prize in the Holzbaupreis Niedersachsen 2022 awards and recognition at the Holzbauplus 2022/23 national competition.

Larch wood from our own forestry

Apart from the 2,650 cubic metres of concrete that flowed into the ground floor slab and the wood concrete ceilings, 2,815 cubic metres of larch wood from the district’s own forestry operations were used in the new building planned according to the Kfw 55 standard. The easy-to-disassemble solid timber construction with wooden frames creates a visual contrast to the neighbouring washed concrete building which houses the high school.

Sustainable school with "Learning House" concept

The accessible new building has a photovoltaic system that almost covers the building’s forecast electricity requirement of 200,000 kW and obtains the heat for heating and hot water via a local heating network connected to a neighbouring biogas plant.

The new IGS consists of several U-shaped buildings and has four open-top courtyards. According to the "Learning House" concept, the individual classrooms are organised as independent, small schools in a complete system and each consists of five classrooms, a group room, a teacher’s room and a communal area in the middle.

Light wood is predominant in the interiors as well

Wood also dominates the interior of the light-flooded new building, giving the entire school complex a light, natural and inviting appearance in combination with lots of glass. The seating furniture and the school lockers made of untreated wood were specially designed for the IGS Rinteln by bez + kock architekten.

Dark green rubber studded flooring and polished concrete stone tiles, as well as dark door and window frames create a colourful contrast to the furniture and panelled walls.

Acoustic panels were installed on the ceilings between the visible wooden beams and partially on the walls, rounding off the overall design visually and underlining its acoustic effectiveness in everyday school life.