pbs Architekten, DE
The city of Aachen’s plans envisaged that the St. Leonhard Gymnasium would be run as an all-day school from 2013. A new extension was to be built to this end on the former Brotschneider parking lot; it was to take the form of a three-story cubic structure with the upper floors being offset from the first floor.
The two upper floors facing the church of St. Michael protrude by five metres and their façade forms a mirror in which the church becomes visually recognisable. The remaining façade areas that – in addition to the transparent glass façades – were mostly clad with HERING’s betoShell® textile-reinforced concrete elements created a curtain-type rear-ventilated façade. The dark façade elements in anthracite constitute a good contrast to the mirrored areas opposite St. Michael's Church and blend very well into the overall aesthetic.
The largest panels featured dimensions of up to 2.88 metres x 4.48 metres with a thickness of just 30 millimetres (plus two reinforcing ribs on the rear of the panels). The elements were later acidified to create a finely roughened finish, which slightly exposes the aggregates. That makes the façade sparkle softly depending on the sunlight and produces a sandstone-like feel to the touch. The completion of the final work at the end of 2012 delivered a prestigious new extension for use as an all-day school for the St. Leonhard Gymnasium.
