Scarcity of raw materials, disrupted supply chains and, on top of that, the constantly rising inflation – those who build or renovate a property really don’t have it easy these days. This is not only felt by private individuals, but also municipalities are coming under pressure from the skyrocketing prices. In the case of the district of Ebersberg, this has even gone so far that a one-year construction delay is accepted for a renovation measure at the Grafinger Max-Mannheimer-Gymnasium in order to save costs. However, the fact that the architects had to cut back on the project does not only have disadvantages.
At their March meeting, the Ebersberg district councilors did not yet know that this would happen. However, the project in the form presented is simply too expensive for them. After an initial estimate of 630,000 euros, the costs for the redesign of the school entrance, access routes suitable for the disabled and the sewer renewal had meanwhile increased to around 755,000 euros. The majority of the committee then spoke out in favor of a “round of honour” for the project: the responsible architect should redesign the design in such a way that it becomes more favorable for the district.
Fewer sealed areas allow for more nature around the high school
And in fact, at the most recent meeting of the real estate committee, planner Valentin Kistler presented a concept that should cost around 75,000 euros less and still meet the requirements of the high school. After all, according to Kistler, such a building is also a representative building. “Personally, I didn’t feel drawn to the entrance.” According to Kistler, the forecourt of the Max Mannheimer Gymnasium is too dark and bare. That should now change – which indirectly also has to do with cost savings.
In order to lower the price for the district, the planner has now incorporated less paved area into his design. In return, things should be more natural around the grammar school in the future. “The production of paving is more expensive than green space,” said Kistler and added: “It also makes sense from an ecological point of view.” However, the reduction of the sealed area has a second side effect. As a result, according to the project planner, almost all of the trees in the stock can be preserved in their entirety. The newly acquired natural areas should later be designed to be as insect-friendly as possible, or as Kistler said: “We want to generate diversity.”
A representative name plaque at the entrance should not be saved
The district councils liked this symbiosis of cost savings with simultaneous ecological upgrading. The committee only expressed criticism on one point: a representative perforated metal construction, on which the namesake of the school was to be honored, also fell victim to the austerity measures. At the beginning of 2020, the Grafing High School was named after the Holocaust survivor Max Mannheimer. This should now also be visible on the school building, as several district councilors and headmistress Nicole Storz demanded in the committee. Whether there is a cheaper variant than the perforated plate, which costs around 15,000 euros, is now to be investigated further.
After the streamlining of the draft plan, the project with costs of around 680,000 is again reasonably in the budget – and that is not a matter of course today, as Herbert Feicht from the district office said: “We have had a price increase of 20 percent since the start of planning.” The clerk did not dare to predict how events in the construction sector would develop. “Of course we have hope that things will get better,” said Feicht. “Not that we won’t be able to build at all next year.”
In the summer holidays of 2023, the excavators should start rolling at the Grafinger Gymnasium – due to the planning delay a year later than originally planned. The forecourt of the school should be completely finished in the following November.