Sports Centre, Niederholz, Switzerland

Feasibility Study Gymnasium Nieder- holz, Riehen, Switzerland

In 1995, Steinegger + Hartmann Architekten, Binningen, built a triple gymnasium and ancillary rooms between the gymnasium of the Hebel School building and the Niederholz School building. The gymnasium was intended for sports use only. The building consists of the subdividable triple hall with 27 x 45 m playing area and 8 m clear height, six changing rooms/shower units and two teachers changing rooms in the basement, as well as a club and teachers study room on the ground floor and the necessary ancillary rooms distributed over both floors for the entire operation. The gymnasium is accessed via a central entrance on the ground floor and four internal staircases. The sports hall is evenly lit by skylights. On the south side of the hall, elongated windows provide a link to the outdoor space.

In the underground area, all enclosure walls and most partition walls are made of concrete. The enclosure walls of the aisle and stair zones, the grandstand and the longitudinal walls of the hall in the south and north are also built in reinforced concrete. A timber construction spans between these concrete slabs of the sports hall walls and forms the roof structure. The walls to the east and west, the roof and the rooms sandwiched between the concrete stairwells on the ground floor are also timber constructions. The interior construction is characterised by surfaces made of wooden panels and exposed concrete. The façades are in parts constructed as a rendered compact façade. In other areas, the façade is clad with Duri- panels. The doors and windows to the north are made of wood. The windows on the south façade are framed with metal frames.

With the feasibility study, VOSS Architects were able to provide the municipality of Riehen, as the building owner, with a meaningful document in which statements are made about the current condition of the Niederholz sports hall as well as any necessary renovation and conversion work. From the study, procedures for a renovation can be determined with reference to the priority of possible upgrades, as well as the life span of the components. The conformity of the existing building with regard to the currently applicable guidelines and standards, including SIA 500, safety measures, fire protection, building envelope and its energetic upgrading (building physics), internal acoustics, assessment of the entire building services and the earthquake safety of the building, was examined and summarised within a matrix including recommendations for a renovation in relation to the prioritisation of the measures. Furthermore, a corresponding cost estimate of the necessary renovation works was prepared.

Since the joint site of the Niederholz School and the Hebel School building will be further developed with additional classrooms in the next few years due to the increased space requirements, and the school, which was originally designed with two classes, is to grow to four classes in the future, additional premises are required.

In connection with the feasibility study for the refurbishment, we evaluated possibilities for an increase in the height of the triple gymnasium, as well as options for an extension of the sports hall, or positioning of an additional gymnasium in the south.

The feasibility study was developed in collaboration with ZPF Ingenieure AG, Ehrsam Beurret Partner AG, Quantum Brandschutz GmbH, Heivi AG, DelPlan GmbH and Sanplan Ingenieure AG.