Einstein paving for new daycare center in Dahn
The aim of public open space planning is to create aesthetically, ecologically and socially consistent open space structures. Two restrictions usually apply here: Firstly, the visual appearance should meet with widespread approval, and secondly, it is desirable for everything to function permanently, even with intensive use. When planning began in 2020 for a new daycare center in Dahn in the southwestern Palatinate, these goals had to be taken into account, particularly by designing the outdoor areas appropriately. The paving joints played a very special role in this.
Dahn is a town in the district of Südwestpfalz and its fourth largest municipality in terms of population. It is the administrative seat of the Dahner Felsenland association municipality, within which it is the largest local municipality. Thanks to a rising birth rate in Dahner Felsenland, the demand for free places in the region’s daycare centers will increase in the future. This development is also reflected in the construction of a new municipal daycare center above the Dahn school center. A two-storey building called “Hochstein-Strolche” has been under construction here since 2021. The rooms are flooded with light thanks to the many panoramic windows. The new and larger rooms can accommodate eight groups, including after-school care. Up to 200 meals per day can be prepared in the kitchen with commercial equipment, separate scullery and adjoining dining room. There is also a reception and a gym.
Areas are heavily trafficked
To alleviate the traffic situation, the daycare center will have its own access road above the bus station from the school center as well as a footpath for pedestrians, which will be extended to the “Haus am Kurpark”. The planners paid particular attention to paving the parking spaces for staff and parents directly in front of the building. Marco Burkard from the Dilger engineering office in Dahn explains the reasons: “The approximately 600 m² of space will be used intensively every day in future. Not only cars, but also vans delivering goods to the canteen will maneuver in the spaces. It was therefore important for us to choose a paved surface that would be able to withstand the shear and shearing forces with which the vehicles act on the surface in the long term,” says Burkard.
One-stone paving ensures optimum joint design
As the 10 cm thick CombiStabil paving system from the Einstein paving family had already been used in other places, this system was also the first choice for the daycare center in Dahn. The special feature of this paving system, which was supplied here by Betonwerk Pfenning from Lampertheim, is the D-point joint technology, which ensures that there is only minimal contact at the bottom edges of the stones when they are laid. Unlike many other interlocking pavers with spacer or interlocking cam systems, the proportion of the surface where the stones touch remains very small thanks to the Einstein paving technology. This prevents crunching, and the joint required to absorb traffic loads is always maintained, thus ensuring optimum force transmission between the paving stones. Marco Burkard: “Shear and horizontal forces caused by traffic on the surface are buffered by the joint material and transferred evenly to the base layers. As the surfaces also have a slight gradient, we decided to lay the stones in 18 x 30 cm format in an elbow bond. This prevents displacements in the paving surface.”
Optical separation
“In addition to the stability properties, the appearance of the paved surface also played an important role for us,” says Marco Burkard. It was important to us to visually separate the roadway, parking spaces and sidewalk. That’s why we designed the roadway in red sandstone, the parking spaces in contrasting anthracite and the sidewalks in a slightly lighter titanium. The parking spaces are separated by a titanium-colored runner. In this way, the area is well structured and the individual functional areas are easily recognizable at first glance – all in all, a really optimal surface paving,” remarks Marco Burkard. The new daycare center went into operation after the 2022 summer vacations. The construction costs amounted to around €6 million.
