The expansion of this secondary school proved difficult: it is a historic fortress with thick walls from the eighteenth century. This ‘postern’ with exposed masonry was originally part of a large defense post of the city Ingolstadt, which was never actually needed.
A large amount of space was needed for the biggest secondary school of the city with 1500 students. The old fortress could not be used for classrooms, but was ideal as a school library. The transition into the old building, originally transition from fortified city to unfortified terrain, is marked crimson.
A structural challenge was the configuration of classrooms above the heritage protected old fortress. The classrooms were ‘hung’ from large cantilevered reinforced concrete plates from the upper floors in order not to stress the pressure sensitive soil. The interior foyers receive ample daylight through light slots. The color scheme of the building is owed Christoph Scheiner, whom the school is named after. He recorded many significant solar observations with his brass instruments, which inspired the brass colored foyer and windows.
The heating of the building is of technical distinction. Except in the historic fortress, heating pipes are integrated into the concrete walls, creating a balanced heat emission. Large mass and low surface temperature creates comfortable radiant heat and effectively insulates the building during summer months.
