Vocational Schools at Simon-Knoll-Platz – Extension and Complete Refurbishment, Munich

The Vocational Training Centre (BBZ) at the Simon-Knoll-Platz in Munich has been extended by a new four-storey roadside building situated on a former gap site. The triangular ground plan accommodates a similarly shaped four-storey access hall surrounded by open corridors. Daylight floods this area through a filigree steel-glass atrium roof construction. A generous spiral staircase connects all the floors and allows insights into the various teaching areas.

The extension is made up of a glazed ground floor and three upper floors. On the ground floor are the main entrance, canteen, examination rooms and large-scale kitchens for trainee cooks. Each of the upper floors is allocated to a particular professional area: bakers and pastry cooks are on the first floor, butchers on the second floor and those aspiring to work in the hotel and catering trade can be found on the third floor. A brewery as well as underground parking spaces are located in the basement. Underneath the schoolyard is a sports hall, which is divisible into two parts and illuminated with daylight through light wells.

The façade covering the upper storeys is characterised by an irregular alternation of ribbon and single windows interspaced with pastel-coloured glass panels, depending on the functional requirements of the teaching and auxiliary spaces and the diversity of the occupational fields. Partly historical building stock was stripped to the shell and extensively renovated during regular operation of the training centre to accommodate administrative areas and theoretical teaching rooms, while specialised teaching areas are now located in the new construction. The old and new structures are connected by a staircase and a three-storey glass bridge.