Child daycare center run by the Protestant church opens on Horsthof Strasse

Bottrop/Essen. The new daycare center at Horsthof Strasse 17 in Bottrop is not only impressive from an architectural point of view with its comfortable, light-flooded room concept, but also with cutting-edge heating and air conditioning technology: An eco-friendly system supplies the new daycare center with the necessary heating in winter and efficient cooling in summer.

The new child daycare center opened its doors on March 1. Stephan Patz, Managing Director of the municipal construction company GBB, is pleased: “With the exception of one door element in the vestibule, we were able to completely finish the interior,” he reports. By the time the weather warms up in May, the outdoor facilities with terraces, sensory trails, playground equipment and Bobby Car race track should all be ready.

New daycare center significantly improves the availability of childcare in Kirchhellen
Stefanie Reich, Head of Elementary Education and Schools at Evangelische Kirche Bottrop (Protestant Church of Bottrop) is delighted with the eagerly awaited building, which considerably eases the critical childcare situation in Kirchhellen: “Solely on account of its size, equipment and very tasteful design, our new daycare center on Horsthof Strasse really is something special. Both the children and the team clearly already feel very at home here.” Space is ample, stretching across more than 1,000 square meters and two floors, and there are generously dimensioned storage rooms and even a room accessible from the outside for cleaning and storing sandbox toys – all very practical, but also far from being a matter of course or even standard.

Designed with children in mind
Other highlights are the dirt traps, where children coming in from outside can get changed to avoid carrying sand and dirt into the indoor rooms. The building is entirely barrier-free and even has an elevator. A large glass floor enables the natural light entering the spacious hallway area through the skylight in the roof to reach the lower garden level, creating a cheerful atmosphere there too. And what is really special is that the skylight means the children can see right through all the floors to the sky. The floor-to-ceiling window elements in the group rooms also ensure plenty of daylight.

Sustainable building concept
he fact that heat protection and sustainability played a special role in the planning of the new daycare center will be evident come the height of the summer. “The green roof will significantly reduce heat influx in the summer and will also enable rainwater to evaporate instead of disappearing down the drain. All the windows can be shaded, and the specially coated glass of the skylight allows much less heat to pass through. This means the building is also well equipped to deal with the more frequent periods of heat that are to be expected in the future,” says developer Stephan Patz.

Innovative climate technology
This is also contributed to significantly by the cooperative project of Essen-based STEAG’s energy experts, who planned and designed the heating system and will also operate it. “The air-to-water heat pump uses the thermal energy in the outside air for heating without the use of fossil fuels. It is quiet, economical and environmentally compatible. In addition, the Waterkotte system can also provide cooling in reverse operation, extracting heat from the interior when it is hot and discharging it outside – but not through cold drafts here and there as is the case with air conditioning, but pleasantly and evenly by cooled water flowing through the underfloor heating system,” Monika Klement, Head of Origination at STEAG Fernwärme GmbH, explains.

Councilor Klaus Müller, responsible for technical matters on behalf of the city of Bottrop, emphatically endorses the use of innovative climate technology: “I am delighted that GBB as a municipal subsidiary is once again leading the way with an innovative and climate-friendly building concept!”

Scientific support
The mechanical equipment of the heat pump also includes a large number of sensors and intermediate meters and is monitored remotely by students at the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences (HRW) in order to be able to evaluate all of the system’s key data at any time and to gain experience with the technology. The new daycare center is therefore also a pilot project, the results of which will help to successfully shape the local energy transition. Prof. Dr. Sylvia Schädlich from HRW has already supervised several such practice-based projects in and around Bottrop: “For students, these practical, science-based and socially relevant projects are an important building block in acquiring skills during their studies. They learn in practice what counts in professional life – and the university's links with companies and institutions in the region are intensified.”

Project fits in with InnovationCity Bottrop
“This project fits in perfectly with InnovationCity Bottrop,” says InnovationCity Managing Director Burkhard Drescher with conviction. “Unfortunately, heat pumps are often difficult to implement in existing buildings. Underpinning their huge benefit for climate protection in new buildings is therefore, in my view, very important. That is another step towards accomplishing the energy transition in Bottrop.” Together with all partners involved in the project, Gesellschaft für Bauen und Wohnen Bottrop, Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Bottrop and STEAG wish the daycare center and its children all the very best – may many young Kirchhellen boys and girls spend happy times there.

Caption: (from left to right): Petra Stehnkamp (seated, KiTa director), Johanna Kaufmann (seated, group leader "Villa Kinder"), Burkhard Drescher, (standing, Gf. InnovationCity), Torsten Sprenger (standing, Hochschule Ruhr West), Prof. Dr.- Ing. Sylvia Schädlich (standing, Hochschule Ruhr West), Nadine Krzykawski (standing, student Hochschule Ruhr West), Stefan Patz (standing, Gf. GBB GmbH), Monika Klement (standing, STEAG Fernwärme), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ing. Susanne Staude (standing, President of Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences), Klaus Müller (standing, Councillor of the City of Bottrop), Nicole Klinger (sitting in front, Protestant Church of Bottrop) and Stefanie Reich (sitting in front, Protestant Church of Bottrop). In the foreground: the children of the "Villa Gruppe" from the KiTa Horsthofstraße.