GARP Training Centre

GARP Training Centre is a training and further education facility for careers in metalworking. The building lies in an attractive, scenic location on the edge of the German town of Nürtingen. A single-storey, free-standing structure extends the existing educational campus (which includes a Rudolf Steiner Waldorf school and the Hölderlin Grammar School). These new developments have strong formal ties with the topographical context.

The typology of a flat pavilion building with an incised atrium ensures a high level of spatial quality. The new school building includes a series of seminar rooms, open learning areas and a metal training workshop.

Transparency as an Architectural Principle

Open lines of sight between the theoretical and practical areas of the building determine the architectural principle. The metal-glass facade consistently continues this by making activities inside the building visible from the outside.

The square structure of the building with a side length of approx. 46 x 46 m, is arranged around a central, landscaped inner courtyard. The construction of the training centre consists of a single-storey steel skeleton with an angular, ribbed profile facade made of perforated sheeting. It creates a constant interplay between transparency and opacity. Despite the relatively small area of the facade (approx. 1,200 m²), a great deal of attention was paid to detail in its design.