Außenansicht der Mühlbachhofschule in Stuttgart

Mühlbachhof Primary School – Stuttgart

SCHELL products ensure user hygiene and drinking water quality while promoting energy efficiency and sustainability in this listed primary school building 

The construction of a new gymnasium plus conversion of the existing sanitary facilities finalises the overall structural concept for the listed Mühlbachhof school building in Stuttgart. Products from SCHELL also form an integral part of the new, modern building systems and fully comply with the project’s requirements for energy efficiency and sustainability. Pupils and staff also benefit from the effective support offered by these products for maintaining drinking water quality and user hygiene.

Project data

Property type: Primary school with gymnasium

Requirements: New building, conversion work

Completion: October 2022

Location: Stuttgart

Country: Germany

Architects: Heni Architekten, IWP Ingenieurbüro für Systemplanung

Site area: Total net floor area: 1,006 m²

SCHELL products:

SCHELL SWS Water Management System (SWS server, SWS BE-K wired bus extender)

LINUS D-C-T concealed shower, COMFORT Flex shower head

WBD-E-T concealed masterbox

SWS thermal disinfection solenoid valve

Challenge

The high levels of usage for the facilities, resulting from changeovers between classes, sports clubs, staff and catering personnel, created a particularly challenging set of hygienic requirements, that needed to be met with an intelligent sanitary equipment solution. School management were also looking for options to carry out stagnation flushes in order to ensure optimum support for maintaining drinking water quality – even during partial periods of non-use, such as during the school holidays. In this way, the building operators were looking to fulfil their duty of care for pupils and staff, while complying with legal requirements. Compliance with these duties of care as operators also needed to be proven with automated, continuous logging from the system. Alongside individual and centrally manageable stagnation flushes at specific times, the system should also be capable of performing thermal disinfections. Last but not least, the selected products also needed to comply with the Mühlbachhof Primary School energy and sustainability policy while enabling high-efficiency building operations in terms of energy usage. 

Solution

The SCHELL SWS Water Management System lies at the heart of the new sanitary fit-out. All electronic LINUS D-C-T concealed shower fittings in the new gymnasium building have been networked with SWS, so as to use automated stagnation flushes to prevent the propagation of Legionella bacteria to levels that could pose a health hazard. SWS can be used for the centralised and straightforward adjustment of individual parameters such as stagnation flushes. SWS also supplies operators with the legally required proof that drinking water hygiene is being properly maintained, as all operating data from the systems is logged reliably and continuously. If required, school management can simply provide the necessary proof as required. Solenoid valves also offer the option of thermal disinfections as stipulated by Worksheet W551 from the DVGW. The showers help to keep energy and water consumption at economical levels, as the flow of water from the fitting stops automatically after a defined period of time. At the same time, effective support is offered for user hygiene: thanks to the automatic closing mechanism, the fittings do not need to be touched by hands once they are freshly washed – which reduces the risk of contact infections. 

An efficient approach to drinking water quality with SWS 

In the new sports hall shower area for schools and sports clubs, a total of 14 LINUS D-C-T concealed showers and 14 matching COMFORT Flex shower heads were installed. Networked with SWS, the fittings use automated stagnation flushes to help maintain the drinking water quality – even during periods when the facilities are not in use, such as the school holidays. Featuring a front panel made from brushed stainless steel, the concealed shower fittings are easy to use thanks to their CVD touch electronics. The preferred temperature can be adjusted easily using the thermostat. After the preconfigured time, the flow of water stops automatically – so the LINUS D-C-T concealed showers contribute to energy-efficient and resource-friendly building operations while upholding the sustainability and efficiency principles for the Mühlbachhof school development project. Individual parameters such as stagnation flushes, flow times and lock times (no fitting operation) can be controlled centrally via SWS. A temperature lock ensures that temperatures cannot be set above 38 °C without first unlocking the fitting. The ThermoProtect thermostat on the LINUS D-C-T concealed showers also protects users reliably from scald injuries, even if the cold water line fails. The soft stream from the vandal-resistant COMFORT Flex shower head provides a pleasant showering experience and is especially long-lived, thanks to its anti-limescale burls. 

SCHELL products

About Mühlbachhof Primary School

This listed school building situated on the Killesberg in Stuttgart looks back over a long history. The eponymous Mühlbachhof – an old farmhouse – was itself demolished in 1937, with the older part of today’s school being constructed on its foundations. This ‘School in the Park’ received its modern facade, featuring the characteristic pavilion building designed by Helmut Erdle, in 1959. Today, Mühlbachhof is a three-stream primary school catering to around 260 pupils in 12 classes. As part of restructuring the facility into an all-day school, the suite of buildings – a traditional timber-framed building and school building with assembly hall and classrooms – was expanded in 2017 by a new, generously-sized all-day facility and the conversion of an existing part into a meeting hall. 

The school’s old ‘Singing Hall’, previously used for sports classes, was converted into a refectory as part of this restructuring work. As a result, sports classes had to be outsourced for a while or hosted in the multi-purpose facility. Ultimately, this interim measure was resolved with the construction of a new, ultra-modern gymnasium, finalising the city council’s urban development plans for the school. Offering 660 m² of space, the modern gymnasium offers pupils and staff at Mühlbachhof Primary School adequate facilities for school sports while also serving as a central pillar in the all-day pedagogical model, which envisages a timetable featuring regular breaks to ensure pupils get enough physical movement. 

Featuring all of the latest equipment for ball games of every type plus a multi-motion centre and a turnaround mirror wall, the new gymnasium enables school and club sport to be practised at a very high level while rectifying the general deficit in school sports venues for schools in the north of the City of Stuttgart. The hybrid architectural design, featuring reinforced concrete and structural beech wood, plus the planted roof with a PV system, supports the project’s sustainability principles, whose building energy efficiency rating lies significantly above the required legal standard. The playing fields and utility rooms for the gymnasium were set deeper, so as to retain as much of the outside natural area as possible. The inner facade made from wood, the parquet sports flooring and the choice of bright colours for the utility rooms create a warm and inviting atmosphere. The redesigned, partially roofed exercise and break area with floor murals and seating also offers plenty of space to play and relax.