KNERER
UND   LANG

The façade of the vocational school centre in Garmisch had considerable deficits in terms of thermal insulation. As part of the necessary extensions and the associated construction measures, the opportunity arose to bring the building envelope up to a sensible energy standard. The division of the building masses of the old vocational school building into three cubes and the striking design of the ribbon windows with decorative concrete elements were typical elements of the architecture of the 1970s. The façade design is therefore concerned with finding a design language that takes account of the original design approach and at the same time utilises the opportunity to find an interpretation that is valid for today. Wood, a typical building material of the Alpine region, can be seen in the addition of storeys and in the extension of the canteen with the new entrance façade; large-format fibre-reinforced concrete panels serve as a curtain wall. The choice of materials creates a link to the rural surroundings. The window strips, which are perceived as characterising, are inserted into the closed wall surfaces like inlays. Window frames, window sills and sun blinds are combined into a single element, the inlay, thanks to the uniform material. The extension is a lightweight timber construction.

The extension of the canteen, together with the newly designed entrance façade, forms a further ‘’intarsia‘’ and significantly enhances the access situation, preserving the character of the vocational school and strengthening its identity.
The school's colour concept is based on the mural preserved in the stairwell, which can probably be attributed to the artist Georg Karl Pfahler. The bold colours create individual colour spaces for the auditorium and classrooms and give the building a strong, individual image.