Rolandstrasse Primary School in Düsseldorf

Designed by Paul Schneider-Esleben, the school dates from 1961 and is an outstanding example of post-war German architecture. Not only does it bear a certain relation to Mies van der Rohe’s IIT building in Chicago; The ensemble was placed under conservation order in 1990, and a preliminary competition for the facade had the aim of bringing the school up to modern energy standards without impairing the outer appearance. The winning architects, Legner and van Ooyen, proposed the replacement of the old facade with a rear-ventilated curtain-wall construction, the dimensions of which would correspond precisely to those of the existing uninsulated concrete skeleton-frame structure.