Municipality, school and administration building, Derendingen, Switzerland

Skillful positioning of the building, offset window levels and various surface design finishes combine the three usages of the municipality of Derendingen’s central building in one structure.

The Swiss municipality of Derendingen decided ten years ago to combine municipal facilities, schooling and administration in one new central building. The architects at ern+ heinzl took over the design and implementation of this new building, with support from WAM planners and engineers. Completed in 2021, the building combines schooling, administration and a multipurpose hall alongside generously designed outdoor spaces. The building was designed around existing spaces.

As well as the buildings’ positioning and offset and differently arranged window areas, the façade design ensures that the various areas dedicated to different uses are easily identifiable, while the different parts of the building still optically communicate with one another.

21 custom formliners from the RECKLI UNIQUE line were used to embellish the exposed concrete façade with vertical ribs. They were produced to the architects’ specifications, with the largest measuring 1.17 x 4.66 meters. The formliners were placed and glued into the molds before the concrete was poured to produce the precast concrete elements, embossing their patterns into the exposed concrete surfaces as the concrete dried. The precast elements were then installed onto the façade.