Start of construction at the Humboldt School
23.02.2022 – With the demolition of a pavilion building that can no longer be renovated in April 2022 and minor clearing work, the preparatory work for the extension of the Humboldt School will begin in February 2022.
The 1964 prefabricated building with its three classrooms will make way for a new building that will house the cafeteria and the childcare rooms from the main building. This will create the space for needs-based all-day care. The elementary school, built in 1956 and located between Odenwaldring and Humboldtstraße, currently has four classes. "However, the increasing number of pupils in the Senefelder district makes it urgently necessary to have five classes," explains Paul-Gerhard Weiß, Head of Schools and Building: "With the extension and its modern childcare and functional rooms, we will significantly improve the situation at the school."
Under the project management of the public utility company OPG, an angular two-storey new building with a gross floor area of 610 square meters and an extensive green roof is expected to be built from April 2022 onwards on behalf of the Offenbach City Council, represented by the Office for Urban Planning, Transport and Construction Management, while classes continue.
Care building with high energy efficiency
The Offenbach-based project development company is having the school building, which does not have a basement, built as a timber system construction in coordination with the city's building construction management department and according to the plans of Frankfurt architects Christl + Bruchhäuser. "Thanks to the high degree of prefabrication, we can not only save time, but also reduce the noise impact of the construction work on school operations," explains OPG Managing Director Daniela Matha.
The cafeteria, the (warm-up) kitchen and the sanitary facilities will be located on the first floor, while the childcare rooms and an office will be built on the upper floor. Thanks to the cantilevered upper floor, a covered outdoor seating area will be created on the first floor. A platform lift will provide barrier-free access to the first floor. In addition to the staircase, there will also be an external staircase as an escape route. The new care building is planned with a high level of energy efficiency for greater climate protection. As with the existing building, heat will be supplied via district heating. As part of the construction work, the sewer pipes will also be renewed and converted to a separate drainage system for rainwater and wastewater. The extensive root system of the plane trees in the schoolyard is a complicating factor. The construction work is therefore being supervised by an arborist.
The Humboldt School's tree population is to be preserved as far as possible in coordination with the Lower Nature Conservation Authority. Only one walnut tree will have to make way for the new building. It will be replaced by a new planting elsewhere once the construction work has been completed. Three of the plane trees will be cut back. Following the sewer work, the schoolyard in this area will be redesigned and will be fitted with paving suitable for seepage and new play equipment.
The pupils previously taught in the pavilion will be temporarily housed in the main building for the duration of the construction work. The OPG sister company GBM will carry out the necessary alterations to the existing building. The entire construction project is expected to be completed by the 2023 summer vacations. The city of Offenbach is investing a total of 5.96 million euros in the extension of the Humboldt School, including sewer renovation. It is receiving 2.78 million euros of this in funding from the state and federal government from the KIP II municipal investment program.
February 23, 2022