Stuttgart, Germany, April 8, 2026. Exam season will soon be underway in Germany, with the A-levels (Abitur) examinations starting next week in the federal state of Lower Saxony. In many places, classes will move into school gymnasiums and temporary spaces. There is not enough space in the classrooms, and many buildings are in need of renovation. With around 68 billion euros needed to remedy the defects, Germany faces a historic investment deficit in education building construction. The figure has been published by the German state-owned development bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). According to the Ministry for Education and Culture of Lower Saxony, meanwhile student numbers are expected to grow by 758,000 up to 2035, and thus intensifying the situation. Cities, towns and villages must speed up their construction and modernization efforts to keep pace with this development. The Trend Report on Construction of Education Buildings issued by Drees & Sommer – a consultancy firm which specializes in construction, real estate and infrastructure – studies the status quo of Germany’s educational infrastructure and provides tangible recommendations for action. The authors regard serial construction approaches as a key solution.
Modular Construction in the Education Sector
In serial and modular construction, standardized building components, such as walls, floors and ceilings or components of the façade, are prefabricated in large quantities in an industrial setting and subsequently assembled on the construction site to make complete building units. Drees & Sommer’s expert for serial construction, Daniel Hof, comments: “This noticeably shortens the construction time. Entire school buildings can be completed in just fourteen months in this way.“
Unlike traditional building, in which all elements are designed and made individually one after the other, in modular construction the production steps run in parallel. “This keeps costs low, because processes are repeated, materials used efficiently, and delivery chains are stable,” adds the expert. City and municipal authorities can also individually add or dismantle prefabricated units enabling them to respond flexibly to increasing or decreasing student numbers.
This Is No Off-The-Shelf School!
Despite the benefits, there are doubts: “Many people still associate serial and modular construction with the prefabricated concrete slab buildings erected in the post-war period and monotonous architecture, ” says Thomas Köhler, Head of Education at Drees & Sommer. However, it is possible to do prefabrication differently: “Modular elements can be used to create learning environments that are designed to be visually appealing and functional for all-day schooling,” Thomas Köhler continues. There will be a particular need for these when all-day care becomes a legal entitlement for primary school pupils from the 2026/27 school year. Schools will need more rooms and must make better use of their space. “Learning campus and cluster concepts are becoming increasingly popular in this regard,” the expert explains. These provide a combination of classrooms, quiet areas, open learning spaces for group projects, and thus promote the interaction between students. Light and acoustics can be flexibly adapted to specific needs.
Standardized and Digital Processes
“At present, differences in building regulations between Germany’s federal states make it difficult to deliver uniform building types and modular structures. However, building types already introduced could be approved within three months. For village, town and city authorities to be able to use serial and modular methods of building and renovating, Germany needs, first and foremost, a uniform framework for the serial construction of school buildings that harmonizes legal, technical and pedagogical standards,” Thomas Köhler says with conviction. There should be more flexibility also in project handling: municipalities could save money and time by bundling multiple projects under one contract. At the same time, municipal building control authorities need coaching in prefabricated construction methods. Workshops, guidelines and local/regional training programs will help here.
To ensure that pedagogical and functional needs can be integrated into the choice and configuration of the modules at an early stage, ‘phase zero’ should be an integral part of every modular school construction project, as Thomas Köhler points out. All serially constructed school buildings should also have a digital twin that provides the data regarding their operation and helps to further develop the standardized modules. Digital monitoring systems can capture data on energy consumption, use of space and user satisfaction.
Model Projects in Berlin, Dortmund and Frankfurt am Main
In many parts of Germany, there are signs that modular school construction is increasingly being accepted. Berlin’s standards for new school construction are part of a systematic approach, which is consistently based on the principles of modular and serial construction. With Reinoldi Comprehensive School in Dortmund, the city is trying out its first modular timber-frame construction project. To this end the competent authorities have defined a thoroughly structured process called the Dortmund way, which makes sure that architectural modules are in line with educational requirements. And in Frankfurt am Main, three elementary schools of the same construction type are being designed and built. The pilot project is based on repeatable structures and standardized planning processes. The experience gained in these projects will form the basis for a transferable school building design.