SRK training centre, Nottwil
As it is broken up into several volumes, the training centre of the Swiss Red Cross fits harmoniously into its setting, despite its considerable size. The way in which the main building and the four pavilions are laid out offers views of the nearby hilly landscape.
The township of Nottwil on the west bank of the Sempachersee in Canton Lucerne consist of numerous scattered hamlets and groups of houses in addition to the main developed area. As well as the Swiss Paraplegic Centre, a purpose-built development erected in 1990 includes the Swiss Red Cross training centre, which was completed in 1989 and consists of a main building and four splayed pavilions.
The centre is used to hold training sessions, courses, seminars, and exercises in the fields of rescue services and disaster management. It is made up of the teaching building with 5 course rooms and 15 group rooms, further multi-functional training rooms, a hall for 120 people with interpreter booths, storage spaces, offices and administration rooms, a canteen-style restaurant, lounge areas and cafeteria, and the accommodation pavilions, each of which has 20 double rooms.
The training building is for the most part a reinforced concrete frame building. The roof to the hall is made of laminated timber trusses with tension cables. For the pavilions a system of sand-lime brick cross-wall was used, the facades have a weatherboard cladding. Despite the building’s considerable mass, it was integrated harmoniously in its setting by breaking it up into individual volumes. This solution also offers differentiated “view corridors” into the nearby hilly landscape.
Situation
Ground floor
Basement
Section and facade
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