Students build a paradise for little craftsmen

In the summer term 2017 RWTH architecture students started the construction of a workshop for childcare center Königshügel. Last week the little house with the couloredroof shingles was inaugurated.

 
28 architecture students of RWTH participated in the construction project “Garden house for the childcare center”. Design, planning and realization were all parts of the project. The idea to build a workshop on the untouched grounds of the former botanical garden came up – Wolfgang Dachtera, the head of childcare center Königshügel, suggested it himself. A mother whose child attends Kita Königshügel helped get in touch with the right department. She works at the RWTH Architecture Faculty. And so from a simple idea a whole research project developed. Bernadette Heiermann, academic employee at the Architecture Faculty, decided to have a small garden house built. “In this project we can research how to build walls from natural materials such as straw, wood and clay that withstand bad weather conditions”, she explained. The result was the creation of special walls that protect from humidity and rain with the help of a clever slat system.

The project could not have been such a success if it hadn’t been for the good cooperation between RWTH, Studierendenwerk, the childcare center and Sozialwerk Aachener Christen. All partners were able to celebrate the inauguration together and to open the workshop to the children for the first time. With two mobile workbenches and a tool cupboard equipped with toy hammers, saws, screwdrivers and paint tubes they can now let their creativity run free.