Built in 1931 by architects Bercher & Tamm, Oekolampad Parish Centre in Basel comprises four principal elements: the main body of the building to the south, a clock tower and two secondary, eastern and western wings. The striking southern section measures 19 x 30.5 meters and takes the form of a brick-clad steel skeleton structure. Stability is provided by columns, set on the reinforced external ground-floor walls, that form a two-joint frame with the truss-like gable roof.

The basemented, double-story side wings were constructed using a traditional method with brick masonry and hollow-core slabs running between steel girders. The roofs are gabled with timber beams. During refurbishment, a new reinforced concrete structure comprising continuous floor slabs, walls and ceilings was inserted between the eastern wing and the presbytery, separated from the existing buildings by expansion joints. A self-supporting timber ‘theatre box’ on reinforced foundations was also installed in the main hall.

The new central ventilation unit located in the attic space is supported by additional steel girders that bear directly on the brick-built interior walls. The small clinker bricks of the facade – one of the first examples of the use of this construction method in Switzerland – give the building its characteristic look and feel and make it a significant example of the German Modernist or “Neues Bauen” style.

AWARDS

2024 Heimatschutz Basel Construction Prize