At Ordrup School in Gentofte, north of Copenhagen, Denmark, the design team of Bosch & Fjord abandoned the idea of traditional school interiors and instead created a variety of spaces for differentiated teaching and creative thinking. These spaces include heightened window seats for observing the world, concentration booths, brightly colored platforms with red “hot pots” for deep discussion, and large upholstered tubes for quiet reading or simply spending some time alone. Ordrup features authentic new-paradigm learning environments, privacy niches and “cave space” for personalized learning as well as group learning. The furnishings themselves become objects that invite curiosity and imagination as to their use. Each piece is both flexible and child-scaled and serves to subdivide spaces into small manageable nooks and crannies.
The Process
The design is based on a joint process with staff and students at the school, challenging habits and customary ways of thinking, shifting the focus towards functionality. In late 2005, the designers temporarily moved into the school to study how the students and staff used their spaces. They used biomorphic pieces of carpet, which resemble abstract living forms, to create “temporary territories” and incorporated a focus on movement into the classroom as an integrated part of the education. Students and staff used sticky notes in the planning process to demarcate their favorite spots in the school, ranging from quiet reading corners to the bathrooms. The activity challenged the traditional use of the rooms and create new ways of thinking about “rooms as active tools in teaching”.
Strength in Variety
Thinking that all people are different, think differently and learn differently, Bosch & Fjord based the design on three concepts: peace & absorption, discussion & cooperation, and security & presence. Each concept assisted in thinking about and creating new rooms for learning. By separating the activities and creating varied rooms, spaces were intentionally created for dissimilarity in both teaching and play where the learning situation will be optimized.
Furniture That Makes You Think
The designers realized that children between the ages of 6 to 12 have different spatial needs. In the younger classes, peace is of primary importance which is reflected through in the upholstered reading tubes. Movable pieces of carpet create temporary space for discussion and cooperation. In the middle classes, children can work together in small groups in the sculptural “hot pots” or may choose to read and work uninterrupted in the colorful concentration booths. In the oldest classes, importance is attached to the notion that teens are heading into the real world. Bright red sofa islands on wheels are movable and can be used for concentrated group work, loud discussions or films. A long table also provides space for creative cooperation and flexible work situations.
The design at Ordrup School gives both students and teachers active tools to rediscover the school in a new way. It optimizes the learning environment and creates space for varied teaching. Ordrup School was inaugurated in November 2006.
Ordrup School
