More than 1,800 visitors and people involved in educational construction came to the Berlin Loewe Saal for the SCHULBAU Salon & Fair for Educational Construction on 23 and 24 November 2022. Visitors came from Berlin, all over Germany and Austria to hear about the latest developments in new school construction and renovation. The last SCHULBAU took place in 2020 due to the coronavirus, so all actors were happy to be present now, to exchange ideas in the usual informal atmosphere and to network intensively. Those present met new and old contacts from the big SCHULBAU family and were very happy to meet again in Berlin at the end of the year. The two-day SCHULBAU 2022 was again organised in close cooperation with the City of Berlin and in collaboration with the Berlin Chamber of Architects.

Around the stage, the audience was fascinated by the panel discussions and individual speakers*. Norbert Illiges, Head of the School Construction Taskforce Steering Group, Senate Department for Education, Youth and Families in Berlin, gave an overview of the school construction offensive in Berlin over the past five years and also looked ahead. Various school projects planned for the near future were presented. A Berlin-type sports hall was presented and Sebastian Schuster from SchmidtPlöcker Architekten reported on the latest research findings on sustainability in school construction. The Berlin Chamber of Architects, with board member Andrea Rausch, gave an insight into architectural competitions for school buildings, the award ceremony and the issue of young talent.

Focal points: 5-year school building offensive in Berlin and timber-built schools

The speakers in the two panel discussions discussed where Berlin stands today, how it should continue to build schools, and where improvements can and should be made. The interested audience quickly and willingly picked up the threads of the panel discussion and talked at length during the breaks afterwards.
On the second day, the talks centred on timber-built schools, roofing solutions and how abandoned schools can be reactivated.

New job exchange for pedagogical specialists for the first time

A new element of our SCHULBAU fair was the job fair, which we organised for the first time in cooperation with the City of Berlin. There is an urgent need for pedagogues and teachers in Berlin. Cubus Medien Verlag with its director and project manager Kirsten Jung took up this aspect and successfully organised a job fair on both days of the event.

New trends in construction and interior design

Throughout the day, visitors found many interesting ideas for future building projects and innovative, practical interior design solutions and products from more than 60 exhibitors. The speed-dating event on the opening day was very well attended and provided all participants with many new contacts. At our planning café on the second day, first-class advice on participatory processes and phase zero was available. And new playground equipment and materials for acoustics, sustainable school construction, decentralised ventilation solutions, and hygiene and safety in educational facilities were the topics of our expert labs.

High-level municipal presence

Norbert Illiges, Taskforce School Construction, Markus Roick, Coordinator for School Construction in the Department for Fiscal Policy and Budget, Hermann-Josef Pohlmann, Head of the Department for Building Construction in the Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing, Jens Wadle, Administrator of HOWOGE and Dr Andreas Bossmann, Coordinator for School Planning in Berlin, participated in the panel discussions and were available to all guests.

Exclusive SCHULBAU excursion

In the afternoon of the second day of the event, interested and registered visitors had an exclusive opportunity to have a look at the Birken primary school in Berlin-Spandau – responsible architect Martin Putzmann and school principal Anja Dudkowiak as well as Yvonne May from the Spandau office presented the modular wooden extension.