BetaPort: Schools can now be expanded using circular building elements
The pioneering company Urban Beta is responsible for the building system BetaPort, which provides buildings 'on demand'. Among other things, the concept allows schools to rapidly obtain more space when pupil numbers increase.
A number of partners - including Troldtekt - have supplied circular materials to BetaPort, which recently premiered at Leipzig International School.
Over the coming years, billions will be invested in German schools. In the short term, however, many schools need solutions that can rapidly increase capacity. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of children and adolescents in Germany increased by four per cent from the end of 2021 to the end of 2022, primarily as a result of immigration from other countries.
Traditional solutions are often used when schools run out of space: cramming more pupils together in the existing facilities or erecting temporary portacabins that do not fulfil the requirements for learning environments in the 2020s.
Urban Beta has now launched a third solution. Using the flexible BetaPort system, schools can rapidly scale up spaces, offering a framework that takes into account teachers, pupils and the climate. A prime example of this is the extension at Leipzig International School. Here, the new buildings have been erected in the school yard – and the 'world premiere of the building system in wood' took place in February 2024.
In a film from the premiere, Anke Parson, co-founder of Urban Beta, speaks about the concept:
"Many schools are currently having to switch to interim solutions. On the other hand, our cities are growing. There is never enough space for students, and this entire area of interim building is in great demand right now. Rather than simply using containers and container solutions, with the BetaPort system, we are trying to offer a new solution that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly."
Constructed using recyclable materials
The BetaPort system is intended to provide flexible building elements 'on demand'. For example, if a school needs to rapidly expand, Urban Beta can supply a number of robot-manufactured elements. In Leipzig, the building was erected in ten days and the tenancy agreement has an initial duration of three years. The building can subsequently be dismantled in a week and erected elsewhere, unless they are to be used as a permanent extension.
The particular advantage of the building elements is that they meet the principles of 'design for disassembly'. Up to 85 per cent of the elements can be recycled in other buildings, and 99 per cent of the materials are circular meaning they can be returned to the natural cycle or to a technical cycle as resources used in new products.
"All our industry partners share the same values as us. It’s about developing circular architecture and, of course, all the materials and products we use in BetaPort play a very big role in that," says Anke Parson.
One of the 13 industry partners is Troldtekt, which has delivered the acoustic design ceilings for BetaPort. Acoustics play a central role in learning environments and the reverberation time – the time it takes for sound to die out – must be short. This has a major impact on understanding speech in the premises, including ensuring that pupils can hear what the teacher says.
Children especially need a good indoor climate
In addition to the acoustic contribution to the indoor climate, Troldtekt acoustic panels also fit with circular thinking. Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool, which is made from Danish wood and cement, is Cradle to Cradle Certified® at gold level. One of the five Cradle to Cradle criteria categories is material health and the constituents used in the Troldtekt panels are thoroughly documented.
On BetaPort’s website, Troldtekt’s Head of Sustainability and Communications, Tina Snedker Kristensen, was interviewed by renowned trade journalist Miriam Beul. The interview took place at the school in Leipzig in February.
"BetaPort at Leipzig International School is a crucial project for us. Material health is important to all of us, but especially for children, whose breathing volume is relatively larger and who inhale more air than adults. That is why it is crucial that we construct schools using healthy materials," says Tina Snedker Kristensen.
Urban Beta and Troldtekt collaborated for the first time in 2022, when the Troldtekt line design solution was installed at Urban Beta’s stand at the Greentech Festival in Berlin. The same solution – black-painted Troldtekt line – was chosen for the project at Leipzig International School.