Kalvebod Fælled School

Type
Public school, KG 1-Grade 9.

Address
Else Alfelts Vej 2, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark

Area
11,560 m²

Client
The Municipality of Copenhagen Department of Finance
Byggeri København

Engineer
Jørgen Nielsen Rådgivende Ingeniører A/S (construction & fire)
Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen A/S (technical)
Gade & Mortensen Akustik A/S (acoustics)

Landscape
BOGL

Year
Construction 2016-2018
1st prize in interview competition 2014

Sustainability
Low Energy 2015, 38 KwH/m²/year

Awards and nominations
2019 Copenhagen Building Award

Photo & Video
Anders Sune Berg
Torben Eskerod
Astrid Marie Busse Rasmussen

The school creates the framework for lifelong learning. Here a social vision of sports and children leading active lives finds its shape.

Kalvebod Fælled School is situated in the protected landscape of Ørestad South in Copenhagen, between the grazing cattle and the city. It’s is an open, bustling community. When the school day ends for the students others join; parents and local community residents use the gymnasium and classrooms for sports, courses and social events.

The ambition has been to fully seize the site without fences or barriers, while softly balancing the unique landscape and the active social community set to unfold here. Focus is on the everyday integration of movement and learning. Kalvebod Fælled School provides solid, inspiring learning and leisure time conditions for children and adults alike.

In nature circularity typically arises from concentration or dispersion around a center. Hazes of dust and gasses compact into astronomical bodies or circular ripples extend from a pebble thrown into a still pond. At Kalvebod Fælled School the gymnasium at the core of the building extends its energy to all five floors.

From the gymnasium a series of spaces undulate. Firstly, atriums carried by exposed concrete columns that run the entire height of the building provide clear views of the gymnasium from all floors. Subsequently the rings making up the floors ensue, spreading into generous common areas while densifying into classrooms closer to the façade, for focused classroom work.

On ground floor level the school reaches out towards the landscape and the adjacent city. The result is a gentle integration between the protected landscape and the outdoor playground, a fusion also echoed in the sparkling, polished concrete floors indoors, as if the landscape of Kalvebod Fælled had shed its green coat to display the bright salt meadow below, gently speckled with embedded rocks.