On a hillside over the town of Aalen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, lies the new campus of the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft. Designed by the Stuttgart firm MGF Architekten and completed in 2006, the project features three compact, wood-clad buildings aligned along the contour lines of the terrain. Two of them contain classrooms, labs and offices, while the smaller third one is the library. These structures are connected by pathways lined with linden trees, culminating in a central plaza. Defining the landscape are terraces, steps and ramps of alternating asphalt, concrete, gravel and grass surfaces.

The library is a transparent and open design, which extends to reading balconies with panoramic views on each floor. Like the other campus structures, the library building is a reinforced concrete frame supporting a double shell: an interior, mostly glazed one surrounded by a second facade of adjustable wood slats for light control. The efficiency of that system was on full display during the day of my visit on a hot sunny August day. Despite that, the interior was breezy and cool.

Sustainability is a key focus of the project, which has received numerous awards, including the 2008 BDA Auszeichnung guter Bauten. Construction materials are simple and locally sourced when available: the larch wood that makes up the facade slats come from a nearby forest. As demonstrated by my summer visit, the shades enable thermal regulation, lowering carbon emissions linked with heating and cooling. A smart ventilation system works at night to exchange air when needed, including between closed rooms through vents. On the roof of all three pavilions is a combined surface of 6,000 m² of photovoltaic cells, capable of generating up to 555.24 kWp of energy.






These images date from a short visit in August 2022.