Highlight of the Month

Kita Bochum

Roof and façade combined

Directly neighbouring the cities of Herne, Castrop-Rauxel and Dortmund, the Bochum district of Gerthe is a popular residential area for almost 9,500 inhabitants. In order to meet the growing demand for childcare facilities for young families, the centrally located daycare centre on Fischerstrasse was extended by another branch a few rows of houses away.

The new building blends in with the surrounding buildings in terms of height and appearance. Viewed from the street, the shape of the building playfully reflects its use: Like three houses pushed together, their unequal pitched roofs are connected. The plastered façade fronts are kept in fresh pastel colours. This contrasts with the metallic building envelope. The aluminium profiled sheets from Kalzip serve as roof cladding and façade cladding.

Bronze building envelope

The new day care centre was designed by Reiser & Partner Architekten BDA from Bochum. The well thought-out roof design plays a central role: it not only takes up the structural requirements, but also creates a visible structure for the use of the building. The folded roof is also recognisable in the interior and provides orientation. At the same time, the roof creates a design link to the neighbouring residential area. The metallic building envelope covers the façade and roofs of the ‘three houses’ like a cloth and gives the square floor plan a clear direction. The colour scheme is particularly striking: in the colour medium-dark bronze B 40 and the anodised surface finish, the façade panels sometimes appear brownish, sometimes golden, depending on the angle of view and incidence of light.

Protected and insulated

The building envelope was constructed by B. Schlichter GmbH & Co. KG from Lathen was responsible for the construction of the building envelope. To fix the Kalzip standing seam profiles to the substrate, the team installed the E-clip brackets on the roof substructure. Mineral wool insulation ensures particularly good insulation values, low energy loss in winter and protection against the building heating up due to solar radiation in the summer months.

The transition from the façade to the roof was a particularly ingenious solution. In order to maintain the visual integrity of the building envelope, create a clean transition and ensure safe water drainage, a special welded construction was chosen. For this purpose, the top row of façade profiles and the bottom row of roof profiles were cut to fit precisely at an even angle to each other. After completion of the roof and façade surfaces, the specialist tradesmen attached finishing profiles in the same colour.

The Kalzip building envelope contributes to a sustainable and durable construction method. The robust standing seam profiles have been proven to withstand various loads. This means that even children playing and balls being thrown are no problem for the system. The standing seam profile panels are made of aluminium with a recycled content of up to 98 percent. The particularly sustainable and lightweight material enables easy handling on the construction site and, thanks to its size, quick installation.