Færder College (2009)
Facts:
Client
Vestfold Fylkeskommune – SKUP
Area
14,600 m2
Competition
2009, restricted international competition
Status
Competition proposal
Landscape architect
Dronninga Landskap, Oslo
Other consultants
Lund+Slaatto Arkitekter, Oslo
Description:
The new Faerder College is an amalgamation of three schools formerly spread out in central Toensberg of Norway. The total area of the school is 14,600 square metres, and it accommodates 750 students. The merging of the three schools into one compact transparent structure aims at strengthening the taught subjects and also enhancing inspiration and social ambiance.
The new school is attractively situated on the banks of a canal and integrates well into the new city structure as part of the industrial and maritime environment in Toensberg. The building assumes a natural position in the landscape and along the sea front, and it attains its identity from the cross field between countryside and city, industry and culture, and history and future.
The design creates an environment, which stimulates both learning and community. The inner layout of the school consists of rectangular shapes transposed in relation to one another but still rooted on ground level in the same orthogonal system. Workshops and outdoor workspaces are placed in these rectangular entities. Between the large workshop areas, an oblong atrium is created which connects the landscape behind the school with the water at the front.
The atrium has a school square and a workshop square that serve as covered outdoor areas for the courses. The two squares symbolise the vision of the project – a learning medley. Here, the students find themselves in a medley of coarse and fine, work and relaxation, teaching and socialising. The two opposite parts overlap in the atrium; the social heart versus the productive generator.
The school square and the cafeteria are inserted as balconies in the atrium with a direct view to the workshop square. The open structure and the social functions lead the students from practical to theoretical teaching and from open spaces to classrooms in a denser context. The grid of the building was inspired by the industrial past of the site. Thus, the facades have an industrial character that ranges from robustness on the ground level to sophistication of theoretical teaching on the third floor.
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