LRO | Primary School FRANKLIN, Mannheim

Primary School FRANKLIN, Mannheim

The new FRANKLIN district is taking shape on a redevelopment site in the north-east of Mannheim. On the former US military base, a site with an existing school building was available for the primary school and its full-day care programme. The competition brief had called for the new school building to be built first and then, once the existing building was demolished, the sports hall would be built in its place. But our space-saving solution allowed both new buildings, the classroom block and the sports hall, to be built at the same time without encroaching on the old building. In fact, all of the Franklin school’s existing buildings, including the classroom wing previously slated for demolition, will continue to be used, thus helping to meet the school’s now greater needs. We achieved this in two ways. First, by cleverly positioning two compact buildings so as to create differentiated and partially covered open spaces, such as a sheltered break area and a semi-public entrance plaza. Second, by incorporating the roof of the semi-subterranean sports hall into the outdoor space concept and designing it to serve as a break area that complements the attractively landscaped schoolyard itself.

Hybrid timber building
The four-form entry primary school with full-day childcare and the subdivisible sports hall were both built using hybrid timber construction. The stated aim was to create a building that is as sustainable as possible, using lots of natural materials (like cellulose insulation and wood) and energy-efficient building services. The ventilated timber façade with its colourful finish clearly communicates this to the outside world.
The ground floor houses the after-school care and administration areas as well as other facilities, including specialist classrooms and the cafeteria, which opens onto the spacious schoolyard. From the marketplace-like circulation area at the entrance, a wide, centrally-positioned bleacher staircase leads to the clusters on the upper floor.

The sixteen classrooms are arranged in rows of individual wooden houses, each with its own hipped roof and additional daylight from a skylight. They convey a unique sense of space and, recognisable from the outside as individual learning houses, serve as points of identification for the nearly 450 pupils. Four of these ‘classroom houses’ form a mixed-age cluster in which the children learn with and from each other in an atmosphere of trust. The adjoining circulation areas are multifunctional and provide direct access to the open courts with break areas. The walls and ceilings, made of prefabricated and untreated dowel-laminated timber panels that are left exposed, were assembled on site in a short time frame of about six months from design to delivery.
The classrooms are served efficiently and economically by a CO₂ demand-controlled ventilation system. Night cooling is provided by gravity ventilation. Energy is supplied by a photovoltaic system and the local district heating network.
A wraparound balcony with two external escape stairs reduces the need for egress corridors and staircases to an absolute minimum. As well as meeting fire safety regulations, the escape balcony also provides fixed external sun protection for the generously glazed rooms on the ground floor.

From the schoolyard, seating steps lead up to the usable roofscape of the partially buried sports hall, which is also accessible to all (without barriers) from the balcony and the roof above the entrance. The resulting extension of the schoolyard is shaded by a pergola with photovoltaic panels and provides space for raised planters and a ‘research landscape’. Blue and biodiverse roofs help to retain the water from heavy rainfall.
A large part of the unpaved schoolyard is a planted mound surrounded by a serpentine skating track. Beneath this is a high-capacity infiltration system that allows all rainwater to seep into the subsoil.

Client:
City of Mannheim / Fachbereich Bildung,
represented by BBS Bau- und Betriebsservice GmbH, Mannheim

Architects:
LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart

Team LRO:
Marc Oei, Katja Pütter, Klaus Hildenbrand, Heiko Müller;
Benjamin Berbig, Jennifer Martin, Nicole Epple, Johannes Schreiner

Structural Engineering:
Mayer-Vorfelder und Dinkelacker, Sindelfingen

Landscape Designer:
Helmut Hornstein, Überlingen

Supply Technology:
Team für Technik, Karlsruhe

Electrical Engineering:
Burnickl Ingenieur, Würzburg;
BBS Bau- und Betriebsservice, Ertugrul Metin

Fire Protection Planning:
TB Portillo, Edingen-Neckarhausen;
Manfred Oelmaier, Biberach

Structural Physics:
Bayer Bauphysik Ingenieurgesellschaft, Fellbach

Kitchen:
Ingenieurbüro Jakob, Mannheim

Lift:
Büro.460 Planungsges. für Fördertechnik, Weingarten

Coordinator for Safety and Health Matters:
Beck Ingenieurbüro, Mannheim