Once again: Significant cost increase in the construction of a new school in Regensburg

Created: 01/13/2022, 02:38 PM

The Siemens grammar school is the largest grammar school in Regensburg.

The east wing is to be renewed.

© City of Regensburg

The ailing east wing of the largest grammar school in Regensburg is to be rebuilt.

But the costs keep rising.

And now comparatively new buildings are to be demolished for this purpose.

Regensburg - Estimated costs of 47.4 million euros were presented to the Regensburg * city council when it made the fundamental decision in July 2019 to demolish and rebuild the ailing east wing of the Siemens grammar school.

After a competition process in which a Munich planning association was awarded the contract, it was already 58 million euros.

It was only last December that the city council added this amount to the investment program in order to realize the new building.

A month later, this amount is also wasted again.

New building at Siemens-Gymnasium in Regensburg: cost increase of more than 25 percent

Next week, education officer Dr.

Hermann Hage presented another submission to the city council, with which the measure is now finally on the way, including a further increase in costs of a further 25 percent.

Now, according to an “in-depth cost estimate”, the new building is expected to cost 73.1 million euros - an increase of more than 15 million euros.

The lion's share of this increase in costs is accounted for by the new building itself - it will be almost ten million euros more expensive, 58.7 million instead of 49 million.

The costs for the outdoor facilities will more than double - from 2.5 to 6.5 million euros.

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For new building at Siemens-Gymnasium: Three “young” buildings are to be demolished

Another result of the "optimization of the competition entry", which the planners carried out in coordination with the education department and the school: There should be several demolitions in order to be able to create a correspondingly large construction site.

The auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria are to be demolished - the "oldest" of these buildings dates from 2005, so it is not even 20 years old.

This means that grants that the city received for the construction of these three buildings would also have to be repaid: the city could have to pay back up to 716,000 euros.

The proposed demolitions were planned “taking into account the urban, functional, but also sustainable economic aspects”, according to the submission for the city council.

And: "From a macroeconomic perspective, this seems justifiable, since the replacement building is actually possible without major interim structures."

New construction of the Siemens east wing: the city speaks of a sustainable measure

The education department hopes to be able to avoid the repayment of the subsidies for the cafeteria, since "due to the significantly higher number of people attending meals, a renovation is required in any case before the end of the years of use".

According to the template, sustainable materials, such as insulation materials, will be used for the construction project. The use of recycled concrete is also being "examined". The roof should be covered with “maximum” photovoltaics, but it should also be covered with greenery. In terms of energy supply, "in addition to ventilation systems with heat recovery, heat pumps and a combined heat and power unit (...), the use of heat from wastewater is also being pursued as an option that is still open". An efficiency house standard EG 40 is "aimed for", which would bring 5.8 million euros in funding.

The city council must take the additional budget of 15.1 million euros into account when updating the investment program at the end of 2022.

However, it remains to be seen whether the total costs will remain at 73.1 million in the end.

The measure is not to begin until 2023 - then the first buildings are to be demolished.

The education department expects the completion of the new east wing, the new auditorium, cafeteria and gym as well as the corresponding outdoor facilities and outdoor sports areas in 2030.

Cost increases for new school buildings: Not an isolated case

It is not the first time that the costs of a new school building have soared.

The planned new school center on Sallerner Berg was initially about 50 million euros in costs.

According to current estimates, these could meanwhile double.