Artful addition to the Nikolaus-von-Weis-Gymnasium

Creating more space for students and teachers 

Local architect Christfried Rudolph was commissioned with the renovation. His task initially focused primarily on renovating the former facility manager‘s house. As the upper floor only had a room height of 2.50 m, which was not suitable for use as classrooms, it was removed. Two floors were then added at the same location, in which there will be a total of four new classrooms and two small material rooms in the future. 

A natural facade 

The new building part was, mainly for structural reasons, built using cross laminated timber, with thermal insulation and a ventilated facade. The outer facade layer is made up of Rockpanel Natural facade boards which were installed on a timber subconstruction.  

The Natural panels at the Nikolaus-von-Weis-Gymnasium are complemented by colour accents made of Rockpanel Colours cladding with a green coating (special RAL 110 70 50), as a contrast to the natural colour.  

Building-high mural 

The concrete facade of the old staircase needed to be renovated and insulated. The architect took this as an opportunity to decorate the prominently placed and narrow, but high facade with an artwork depicting Saint Dominic, the namesake of the client, St. Dominikus Schools GmbH. The image of Saint Dominic on the mural is supplemented by his places of activity and the associated dates. The green surface of the Rockpanel Colours panels was milled to create the artistic design, revealing the natural board material, which is similar to that of Rockpanel Natural.  

A facade material with many advantages 

Rockpanel cladding has many advantages, including optimum fire resilience (Euroclass A2), easy installation and excellent protection against weather influences. Equipped in this way, the students and teachers of the Nikolaus-von-Weis-Gymnasium will enjoy the renovation for a long time.  

Architect Christfried Rudolph likes to use Rockpanel cladding again and again in his projects because he appreciates the functional aspects of Rockpanel: “With this material, you don't need to treat the edges. In addition, installers benefit from the light weight of the boards. Rockpanel retains its beautiful appearance, and dealing with fire protection is easier.”