Terra Nova Campus - The Discovery School: Support centre for the physically disabled completed

The largest school construction project in Chemnitz is being handed over to its pupils and teachers: Next Monday, the Terra Nova Campus will be ceremoniously opened by Minister President Stanislaw Tillich, Mayor Barbara Ludwig, Special School Director Annett Goerlitz and Head of All-Day Care and Residential Care, Karla Lämmel.

Covering around 14,000 square metres, the Terra Nova Campus includes a school, therapy and medical area, residential and all-day care, sports hall and outdoor sports facilities. At 35.1 million euros, it is the city council's largest school building project in Chemnitz. The city of Chemnitz paid over 20 million euros and the Free State of Saxony subsidised 14.8 million euros.

This means that from the second half of the 2015/2016 school year, 251 children and young people, 107 of whom are from Chemnitz, will be able to learn in the new premises at the Chemnitz Special Education Centre for the Physically Disabled (SPFZ).

The concentration of the individual functional areas in one location ensures short distances and the best possible care for the children with physical and, in some cases, multiple disabilities.

Modern building complex:

The appearance of the Terra Nova Campus is dominated by generous glazed façade surfaces, behind which the intense colours of the interior spaces have an effective effect on the outside. The predominantly single-storey building complex, constructed entirely in accordance with the latest accessibility standards, is accessed from Heinrich-Schütz-Straße via a public forecourt. A new urban space has been created, previously hidden behind barracks walls, which enables interaction and communication between the school and the public.

The skilful arrangement of the individual parts of the building has created enclosed and semi-open green inner courtyards, which offer a high quality of stay. Interior and exterior spaces merge seamlessly into one another. The building complex, with a total roof area of around 1.4 hectares, allows views into and out of the urban space towards Heinrich-Schütz-Strasse as well as towards Zeisigwald.

The two-court sports hall with a grandstand for 200 spectators can also be used for events with a total of up to 1000 people. In addition to the school facilities, the hall will also be used by disabled sports clubs. The first club, the wheelchair basketball team from the Basketballvereinigung Chemnitz e.V., is already scheduled to have three training sessions per week. Due to the foundation conditions, the building stands on approx. 1,600 ductile driven piles. A therapy pool measuring 12.5 x 5 metres is equipped with the latest bathing water technology.

All classrooms are lit from two sides and a large part (3,500 square metres) has been fitted with upright slatted parquet flooring. A roof area of 900 square metres, which can be seen from some of the dormitory rooms, has been extensively greened.

The building complex is heated by district heating. In the event of an emergency, the supply is secured via a mobile heating centre. The solar thermal system with a collector area of 42 square metres provides the system with renewable energy to support hot water preparation and building heating. The photovoltaic system with a module area of 230 square metres also supplies solar power for self-consumption. Any surplus energy that is not required is fed back into the grid. An in-house management system enables the optimisation of electrical energy consumption. A total of 170 kilometres of pipes were laid in the building, plus around 185 kilometres of cable.

Around 55 companies and tradesmen from all over Germany were involved in the overall project: 80 per cent from Saxony, half of them from the Chemnitz region. At times, up to 500 workers were working on the construction site at the same time.

The opening marks the end of the three-and-a-half-year construction project after an 18-month delay. Reasons for this included the flooding in May/June three years ago and the re-commissioning of companies.

Note for the media on the opening:

Representatives of the media are cordially invited to the opening ceremony next Monday, 22 February 2016 at 10 a.m. in the Terra Nova Campus gym. For better planning of seating capacity, please register by email to pressestelle(at)stadt-chemnitz.de by Friday, 19 February 2016 at 12 noon.