Exer­cise and Socia­li­zing

Three years of cons­truc­tion, an invest­ment of 18 million euros, and a vision that goes far beyond tradi­tional school sports: With the new Schön­berg Sports Hall, a sports center has been created on the campus of the Prob­stei Compre­hen­sive School that combines archi­tec­ture, func­tion­a­lity, and sustaina­bi­lity.

The hybrid wood cons­truc­tion, the striking lighting design, and the excep­tional amenities—including perma­nently installed gymnastics equipment—make this new buil­ding a land­mark project.

The new sports hall on the campus of the Prob­stei Compre­hen­sive School in Schön­berg replaces an exis­ting faci­lity that could no longer be reno­vated for economic reasons and provides far more than just new space for physical educa­tion classes. The result is a multi­func­tional sports center that brings toge­ther the school, sports clubs, and the public, and views sports as a social gathe­ring place.

The scale of the project speaks for itself: The muni­ci­pa­lity invested around 18 million euros in the new buil­ding, the comple­tion of which was cele­brated after about three years of cons­truc­tion. For the appro­xi­m­ately 1,500 students, this means one thing above all else: Physical educa­tion classes are once again held indoors—regardless of the weather or season. After the old gym was lost, physical educa­tion classes had been tempo­r­a­rily moved outdoors, even in winter.

At the heart of the new Schön­berg sports hall is a spacious three-court faci­lity that can be flexibly divided into smaller sections using movable parti­tions. It is comple­mented by a sepa­rate gym with perma­nently installed equipment—a unique feature that signi­fi­cantly reduces the effort required for setting up and taking down equip­ment during the school day while also crea­ting new trai­ning oppor­tu­ni­ties.

In addi­tion, there is a fitness room and a two-sided blea­cher system with seating for about 500 spec­ta­tors. This means the gym can accom­mo­date not only classes and club sports, but also compe­ti­tions, sports festi­vals, and school events.

It is precisely this multi-purpose use that defines the facility’s opera­ting concept: While school sports take center stage during the day, clubs take over the faci­li­ties in the after­noon and evening. In the future, the faci­lity is even expected to host inter­re­gional compe­ti­tions.

Archi­tec­tu­rally, the new buil­ding is deli­bera­tely desi­gned to stand alone as a free­stan­ding struc­ture. It blends into the campus without being subor­di­nate to the exis­ting buil­dings in terms of design.

The entrance area is desi­gned as a mini­ma­list exposed-concrete struc­ture: robust, clean-lined, and under­stated. The hall areas, on the other hand, are enclosed by a slanted, perfo­rated trape­zo­idal sheet metal façade. This creates an unusual sense of dyna­mism and makes the large struc­ture appear lighter.

The wraparound band of trans­lu­cent profiled glass is a parti­cu­larly striking feature. It begins in the entrance area, accom­pa­nies visi­tors through stair­wells and blea­chers all the way to the fitness room, and extends around the entire buil­ding as a unifying element. The inter­play with the perfo­rated façade creates shif­ting effects of light and shadow that gene­rate a unique atmo­sphere both indoors and outdoors.

This mate­rial stra­tegy conti­nues inside. Exposed wooden struc­tural elements, wooden slat walls, wooden benches, and exposed concrete surfaces create a warm, natural spatial atmo­sphere. The choice of mate­rials not only serves design purposes but also improves acou­stics and wayfin­ding.

In the plan­ning and cons­truc­tion of the Schön­berg Sports Hall, sustaina­bi­lity was not viewed as an addi­tional measure, but rather as a funda­mental plan­ning prin­ciple.

The sports hall was cons­tructed using a modular design with a high propor­tion of prefa­bri­cated elements. This made it possible to reduce cons­truc­tion time, mate­rial loss, and waste. At the same time, prefa­bri­ca­tion enhances the precision and quality of the work­man­ship.

The chosen hybrid wood cons­truc­tion method combines the load-bearing capa­city of rein­forced concrete with the envi­ron­mental bene­fits of wood as a buil­ding mate­rial. Many of the mate­rials used are sepa­rable and largely recyclable—an important factor for later reuse or recy­cling.

The buil­ding also takes a clear approach to energy effi­ci­ency: an air-source heat pump, photo­vol­taic panels, and solar thermal systems cover a large portion of its energy needs using rene­wable sources. This is comple­mented by natural lighting and venti­la­tion, which reduce the need for arti­fi­cial lighting and mecha­nical venti­la­tion. The new buil­ding meets the KfW-55 stan­dard and thus signi­fi­cantly under­cuts the energy consump­tion of conven­tional buil­dings.

Sports faci­li­ties are incre­asingly viewed as infra­struc­ture that fulfills social func­tions beyond their primary purpose. This concept was also incor­po­rated into the plan­ning for Schön­berg. The Schön­berg sports hall is fully acces­sible and can be used by people of all ages. At the same time, it can serve as a multi­pur­pose or emer­gency center when needed—for example, during public events or for disaster response.

As a multi­func­tional sports center, this project combines a three-court gymna­sium, a fitness area, and blea­chers within a striking archi­tec­tural design. Natural mate­rials, sustainable buil­ding tech­no­logy, and flexible usage concepts create a space for schools, clubs, and the entire commu­nity.

The result is a buil­ding in Schön­berg that goes far beyond the tradi­tional concept of a school gym: a place for physical acti­vity, social inter­ac­tion, and community—with archi­tec­tural origi­na­lity and a long-term vision.