Pleine Lune & Pangolin
The new Telli secondary school centre, which is to be built next to the athletics facility of the same name, will provide spacious new school and sports facilities for the city of Aarau. The structural engineers from Lüchinger+Meyer won 2nd and 3rd place in the competition for the new building. Timber-concrete hybrid constructions were used in both projects.
The second-ranked design “Pleine Lune“, developed with Blättler Dafflon Architekten and kunzarchitekten, provides two compact new building volumes to complement the existing indoor swimming pool. The structural concept of the four-storey school building is based on a strict floor plan that allows for appropriate flexibility of use. The single-axis floor slabs spanning over 5.00 m are designed as timber-concrete composite structures with glulam ribs that act as a bond with the topping of recycled concrete. These ceilings are supported by slender prefabricated, partially prestressed concrete main beams resting on timber columns. A similar load-bearing system is used for the sports building, where the almost 2 metre high prefabricated, prestressed concrete beams span the triple gymnasium in a transverse direction.
The consistent supporting structure with the “carefully elaborated” hybrid timber-concrete skeleton structures and the materialisation set the right course for resource-saving construction, the jury attested to the design.
The collaboration with YAGA Yaparsidi Gabas Architektur also resulted in the design of a hybrid building, the construction of which was explicitly recognised by the jury. “The supporting structure is well thought-out as a timber-concrete skeleton construction with timber composite ribbed ceilings and an efficient use of materials.” The secondary school centre consists of a large two-storey base with three interconnected three-storey superstructures. A two-storey sports centre was positioned opposite. The strict regularity of the load-bearing structures of the “Pangolin” project and the high repetition of identical load-bearing elements on all floors serve as the basis for a highly flexible floor plan layout and at the same time an economical design.
Visualisations: Filippo Bolognese, Milano (Pleine Lune) – avocadofresh, Praha (Pangolin)
