Cologne has faced a surge in student enrollment in recent years, creating an urgent need for additional school capacity. To address this challenge, the city launched an ambitious school construction initiative focused on delivering new facilities quickly without compromising sustainability. For two community primary schools—Unter Birken in Cologne-Eil and Peter-Grieß-Straße in Cologne-Flittard—the Cologne-based firm baut architektur designed modular timber extensions in partnership with Swiss timber specialists Blumer Lehmann, who served as the project's general contractor. Both classroom buildings were prefabricated in Germany, seamlessly complementing the existing school architecture while introducing a distinctive contemporary aesthetic. The ambitious timeline demanded completion within nine months, with maximum flexibility to adapt to each site's unique constraints. Modular timber construction emerged as the ideal solution, offering rapid assembly, predictable costs, and genuine environmental credentials. Beyond their material carbon storage, these timber modules can be relocated and repurposed at different sites whenever needed. Their modular design adapts effortlessly to existing structures—in both layout and exterior appearance. At the Flittard campus, a two-storey L-shaped structure now sits on previously underutilized playground space, combining eight classrooms with four flexible group spaces. At the Eil location, where space was severely constrained, the team initially considered helicopter placement to stack the modules into a two-storey block. The final solution used two mobile cranes to assemble a four-classroom building more efficiently. Both buildings feature covered walkways that foster movement and interaction between floors and schoolyard while minimizing footprint and maintaining fire safety standards. The façade employs untreated larch wood cladding accented with color at windows and doors—a restrained palette that extends into the interiors, creating visual coherence from outside to in. Energy-wise, the extensions operate as passive houses, with rooftop photovoltaic panels powering an integrated heat pump and ventilation system. Both schools welcomed students back after summer break with their new spaces ready—construction stayed on schedule from start to finish.

www.blumer-lehmann.com
www.baut-architektur.de

Photography:
Annika Feuss
www.annikafeuss.com

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 04|24)