On 24 November, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated at BILLE Gymnasium. The headmistress, Hamburg's Senator for Education and the managing director of SBH | Schulbau Hamburg kicked off the festivities with their speeches. After the topping-out speech was given and the topping-out wreath was symbolically hoisted up on the crane, a toast was made in the Hamburg classroom building – one of three new buildings on the site of the former special school on Billwerder Straße. The existing buildings there were demolished in 2021 to make way for the new school, creating space for an ensemble that rethinks education and focuses on spacious, flexible rooms. For us, this was a moment that showed how a shared goal is gradually being transformed into built reality.
A topping-out ceremony is always a cause for celebration. We are not only celebrating the completion of the shell and thus a milestone in the construction process, but also the valuable cooperation of all those involved. The construction of the new Bille Gymnasium confirms this: three buildings offer the school community space for learning, teaching, exercise and exchange.
