Learning Spaces

LEARNING SPACES

UMEÅ THE UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE WILL FORM PART OF THE NEW ARTS CAMPUS AT UMEÅ UNIVERSITY. THE FACADES AND SQUARE WINDOWS ARE PLACED IN A VIBRANT, RHYTHMIC SEQUENCE ON ALL SIDES AND GENEROUSLY LETS THE LIGHT FLOW INTO THE BUILDING AND OFFERS A BREATHTAKING VIEW OF THE RIVER.

SPACES |3 EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS| LEARNING − JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL − UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

CONTENT

• DESIGNING SPACES FOR LEARNING AND INSPIRATION p. 3 • THE ARCHITECTURAL FRAMEWORK BECOMES PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Interview with Principal Peter Kjær, Umeå School of Architecture

p.6

• ARCHITECTURE SET THE STAGE FOR A NEW APPROACH Interview with Principal Tove Vatsvåg Nylund, Jåttå Vocational School.

p. 16-17

• LEARNING BETWEEN THE LINES Interview with architect Louis Becker, Partner and Director at Henning Larsen Architects p. 26 • THE EDUCATIONAL BUILDING AS A ‘TOWN WITHIN THE CITY’ Interview with architect Troels Troelsen, Henning Larsen Architects. p. 28-29 • NEW LEARNING SPACES 2010

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• CONTACT p. 32

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INTRODUCTION

DESIGNING SPACES FOR LEARNING AND INSPIRATION

Henning Larsen Architects has many years’ experience of designing different types of educational buildings, originating in a variety of different learning cultures. Our projects range from day care centres and upper secondary schools to universities and advanced research facilities.

A building should support the in-house activities to encourage knowledge-sharing and social interaction across the organisation. Therefore, our buildings often comprise large common and synergy-creating spaces promoting formal and informal meetings.

Our most recent school projects include Campus Roskilde, which will consolidate the professional bachelor’s programmes of University College Sealand, a new large university and research campus in Norway and two new medical research centres at King Saud University in Riyadh.

The educational sector is an area of growth in many countries. Henning Larsen Architects has long, international experience, which we always carry with us. Our projects inspire each other across borders. We always base our designs on the local culture and context but also recognise the importance of learning from international experience to bring state-of-the-art knowledge into play.

A learning environment should comprise zones for contemplation and concentration as well as zones for communication to meet both the students’ and teachers’ need for changing between various learning and working methods. A number of our educational buildings are based on a clear layout staging the many contact points and the interaction between the different user groups, across departments, faculties and academic fields.

On the following pages, you can read more about two of our recent educational projects as they are experienced by the users and about our approach to designing spaces for inspiration.

Mette Kynne Frandsen CEO, Partner, Architect

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UMEÅ THE DRAWING ROOMS OF UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE ARE PLACED ALONG THE FACADES OF THE BUILDING IN A STRICT AND REGULAR SEQUENCE OF COLUMNS AND BEAMS. THE VARIED PATTERN OF WINDOWS NOT ONLY CREATES A STRONG VISUAL EFFECT.

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UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Sweden

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INTERVIEW

THE ARCHITECTURAL FRAMEWORK BECOMES PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL

vertical, spatial connections, the building offers a unique opportunity to influence the students’ ability to understand, develop and work with spatial complexity.

Interview with Principal Peter Kjær, Umeå School of Architecture In September 2010, a new school of architecture opened in Sweden. The school will form part of the new Arts Campus at Umeå University, which will also comprise the new Academy of Fine Arts and the new Art Museum – both designed by Henning Larsen Architects in collaboration with White Architects. The school is the fourth of its kind in Sweden but the first one that will have an independent, artistic profile with a focus on sustainability and international relations.

Umeå School of Architecture has a dynamic layout with displaced, open levels. How does this influence the teaching?

The building design meets our view on architecture – that architecture is a way of looking at the world, a way of opening up the world. That’s what makes architecture art.

The concept of open architecture is in itself a separate discipline – and has a lot to do with the architectural programme and the preparation of this. Through its

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How has the building been received by students and teachers?

A building with so many open spaces that it basically appears as one space is at the same time a real inspiration and provocation. And this is also how it has been received by the teachers and students. The spatial layout is undoubtedly the most significant architectural quality of the building. But it also poses a number of yet unsolved questions - that is, the relationship between joint and individual activities, problems with acoustic regulation, fewer separate classrooms etc. It is a question of getting used to a new open and dynamic structure. As a whole, the building provides a fantastic framework, which will gradually be adapted to our use and culture.

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What is the most significant difference between Umeå School of Architecture and other schools of architecture? How great an influence do you believe that the physical framework will have for the architects graduating from Umeå School of Architecture?

Even though the building provides too few seminar rooms and research offices, its physical framework offers us the opportunity to meet our goals. We will probably develop the vertical openness of the building to become of a higher quality, which will be reflected in our organisation and working methods.

During the last 15 years, only a few new schools of architecture have been built. What makes them special is that all facilities are consolidated under the same room. This applies to for instance Marne La Vallée in Paris and the new school in Nantes. With its cubic, complex shapes, the new Umeå School of Architecture is perhaps the most spatially advanced of them all. In addition, the school has a both beautiful and very central location; the spatial character of the building makes it open up to the surroundings and appear as an open institution inviting in the outside world.

The building design has a certain extrovert character – a both distinctive and unique feature.

The open character of the building really matches the idea of an architectural education, which – on an artistic foundation, that is, the ability to create architectural spaces – will develop to become a laboratory of architecture.

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UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE 5,000 M2, UMEÅ, SWEDEN IN COLLABORATION WITH WHITE ARKITEKTER UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE HAS A UNIQUE LOCATION BY UMEÅ RIVER. WITH ITS INTERIOR LANDSCAPE OF OPEN FLOOR LEVELS AND SCULPTURALLY SHAPED STAIRS, THE BUILDING HAS A STRONG ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.

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UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE THE LARCH FACADES HAVE SQUARE WINDOWS PLACED IN A VIBRANT, RHYTHMIC SEQUENCE ON ALL SIDES

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UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE THE LIGHT FLOWS INTO THE BUILDING AND OFFERS A BREATHTAKING VIEW OF THE RIVER.

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UMEÅ SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE ONE OF THE KEY OBJECTIVES HAS BEEN TO CREATE A BRIGHT AND OPEN STUDY ENVIRONMENT WHERE EVERYONE IS PART OF THE SAME ROOM – ONLY SEPARATED BY THE SPLIT LEVELS AND GLASS WALLS OF THE TEACHING ROOMS.

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JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 16,000 M2, STAVANGER, NORWAY AS ONE OF NORWAY’S MOST MODERN SCHOOL BUILDINGS, JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ARCHITECTURE CAN INFLUENCE AN ACTIVE AND INSTRUCTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.

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JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL Norway

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INTERVIEW

ARCHITECTURE SET THE STAGE FOR A NEW APPROACH

Interview with Principal Tove Vatsvåg Nylund, Jåttå Vocational School.

With its minimalist, almost floating architecture, Jåttå Vocational School forms the entrance to Stavanger’s new urban quarter by the fjord. The school has a capacity of 1,600 students and offers several subjects in service and technical science, among others. As one of the most modern schools in Norway, the building is a good example of how architecture can have a positive influence on an active and educational school process.

Jåttå Vocational School is designed as a small ‘town in the city’ and features a vibrant double-high central street surrounded by teaching environments and lecture rooms.

How does this influence the teaching?

Tove Vatsvåg Nylund: The school was inaugurated in autumn 2007. It was exciting to see whether the architecture could set the stage for a new pedagogical approach.

Already after a short period of time, we could see that the building design had an influence on the teachers’ thinking

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and approach. They could no longer plan the teaching as traditional classroom teaching.

The various learning areas encourage the teachers to vary their teaching and this soon became a matter of course.

The transparent building makes it impossible for the teachers to hide behind a closed door with their students.

The architecture has also promoted a new approach to assessing procedures and testing methods.

How has the building been received by students and teachers?

Tove Vatsvåg Nylund: These are extracts from mails that I have received from some of the teachers. One of them writes: “I think that the flexibility and opportunity to change between the different rooms, groups and the study workshop will work very well. I have been a bit sceptical towards the many glass windows making it possible to look both out and in, but I can see now that they have many advantages”.

Another teacher writes: “We have only been here for four days. The students have settled in well. They like working

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in the landscape, which offers them room to concentrate.

The experience of light and air and the natural atmosphere provide them with peace and commitment to work. One student said to me that the architecture almost “encourages good manners”.”

What is the most significant difference between Jåttå Vocational School and other schools?

Tove Vatsvåg Nylund: This building is not built for a specific pedagogical thinking but sets the stage for a new pedagogical approach. It is a rewarding job to be Principal in a learning environment based on a modern and transparent architecture. As Principal, I am involved in the teaching in a natural and obvious way. I am inspired by committed teachers and know who my co-players are, which makes it easier to identify the teachers who need encouragement and support. I venture to assert that life as a Principal becomes more exciting when you are in direct contact with the teachers. I am grateful that the building offers me this opportunity.

The school was inaugurated with the slogan ”Eye for the individual, room for everyone”. What we working at the school all have in common is that we like to work with young people and want to give them the best foundation for doing well in life and at their future workplace. The building and the people working here make it realistic to meet the slogan.”

Inspired by the building, we have formulated our vision and values. We wish for all employees and students to get a little further, think a little more freely and perform a little more, both socially and academically, than they thought possible – or than others thought possible. Our motto is FLOAT – as the building. It will be exciting to see how we will develop in this building, which is a true inspiration.

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JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL THE OPEN AND VARIED SPATIAL SEQUENCES PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT SITUATIONS AND DIFFERENT STYLES OF LEARNING.

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JÅTTÅ VOCATIONAL SCHOOL IN CONNECION WITH THE SCHOOL HENNING LARSEN ARCHITECTS HAS DESIGNED A NEW, FLEXIBLE SPORTS CENTRE. THE CENTRE ALSO COMPRISES CLASSROOMS AND SEMINAR ROOMS.

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JÅTTÅ VIDEREGÅENDE SKOLE THE SCHOOL IS DESIGNED AS A SMALL ‘TOWN WITHIN THE CITY’ FEATURING A VIBRANT DOUBLE-HIGH CENTRAL STREET SURROUNDED

BY INDIVIDUAL ‘URBAN QUARTERS’, EACH WITH THEIR OWN TEACHING ENVIRONMENTS AND LECTURE ROOMS.

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JÅTTÅ VIDEREGÅENDE SKOLE THE ROOF LANDSCAPE HAS A VIEW OF THE LANDSCAPE AND FJORD.

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INTERVIEW

LEARNING BETWEEN THE LINES

Interview with architect Louis Becker, Partner and Director at Henning Larsen Architects and Adjunct Professor at Aalborg University.

What characterises a successful educational building?

A successful educational building should provide inspiration to its users and meet the pedagogical strategies laid out by the educational institution. For Henning Larsen Architects, it is particularly a matter of creating spaces that invite collaboration and dialogue as well as concentration and focus. It is important that the physical framework provides the students with a sense of belonging. The building should offer a special atmosphere and add a specific quality to the physical surroundings that the students and teachers can relate to.

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Massar Children’s Discovery Center, Damascus, Syria, 2013

How does Henning Larsen Architects promote the successful learning environment?

What will be the requirements for educational buildings in 2020?

For us, it is decisive that students, teachers and researchers feel inspired by the physical framework. They should get the feeling of entering a bright and inviting space where the daylight contributes to emphasising the experience and intensity of the building. The building should provide the users with a sense of belonging and improve their everyday life.

With our educational buildings, we seek to strengthen both the formal and informal learning processes. What happens between lessons is just as important as what takes place during the teaching. A prerequisite for learning is that you receive, discuss and actively use what you have learned. An educational building should support all these elements.

In Damascus, we are currently working on the Massar Children’s Discovery Centre, which will provide Syrian children with the opportunity to learn about the world while playing and exploring the exhibitions. The project has a clear sustainable profile integrating local craft, which adds a special and unique quality to the project.

Without a doubt, a variety of new spatial themes will appear – which is particularly evident when we look at the rate of which digitalisation is changing our way of communicating and organising our everyday life.

I think that the educational buildings of the future will be characterised by more fluid boundaries. This applies to the boundaries between home studies and teaching, work and education, formal and informal learning etc. The educational buildings will become a more integrated part of the surrounding society.

As I see it, learning is something which is developed and realised most optimally in interaction with others.

So even though there is a tendency towards increasing digitalisation and more distance learning. I am sure that there will always be a need for the physical learning environment.

The physical learning environment offers something different to digital learning – it supports what happens between the lines. And this is what our current – and future – buildings always aim to stimulate!

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INTERVIEW

THE EDUCATIONAL BUILDING AS A ‘TOWN WITHIN THE CITY’

Interview with architect Troels Troelsen, Henning Larsen Architects.

Which common features have characterised the educational buildings designed by Henning Larsen Architects?

in all our projects – from the ubiquitous skylights at Trondheim University to more complex lighting concepts that contribute to emphasising the atmosphere in the building. At Copenhagen Business School, for instance, the scenographic effect of light has been incorporated into the design of the building. In the more recent project, the Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh, the light creates the atmosphere of a palm tree forest where the strong sunlight is filtered through the treetops.

Has the focus of the projects changed during your time at Henning Larsen Architects?

We have always had focus on creating active and vibrant teaching environments and promoting the desire to learn and exchange knowledge.

A lot of the our educational buildings are based on the idea of the school or university as a small community – a ‘town within the city’ – where life can unfold and where you move around different, varied spaces – squares, streets and niches – while continuously feeling part of a whole.

The architectural use of daylight is a common feature

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Our ideas of creating small towns and community-creating spaces have taken many forms during the years. When I started at Henning Larsen Architects in 1966, educational buildings often had a green campus character in the form of individual buildings linked by means communicating passages.

In the first prize winning proposal for Stockholm University, we consolidated the university buildings on a shared plateau to create a joint, more urban structure. The plateau has been a consistent theme in a number of our projects where

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4 1: Copenhagen Business School, Denmark (1989). 2: Institute of Diplomatic Studies, Saudi Arabia (2013).

3: Trondheim University, Norway (1978). 4: Kolding Campus, Denmark (2012).

we have developed the ground floor as a central meeting place for the students. The ground floor has been adapted to the terrain and the stairs of the lecture halls. At Trondheim University, the urban character was achieved by means of establishing a glass-covered town with streets and squares – as an active space with room for both the shared and the individual academic environments.

This idea has characterised a number of our later projects where the concept of a ‘town within the city’ has been implemented in the building design. Examples of this include Copenhagen Business School and Fysikcentrum in Stockholm where the diversified walking lines create a more varied urban space.

What has characterised the company’s educational buildings in recent years?

In the 1990’s, we became more focused on the significance of the outdoor spaces. For Frederiksberg Upper Secondary School and Jåttå Vocational School in Stavanger, the exterior and interior spaces are brought together by merging the buildings and courtyards. This development has

followed the ideals of sustainable, natural spaces and is continuously strengthened.

In recent years, there has been a tendency towards educational buildings adapting to some of the principles of commercial domiciles. It has become more common for adults to take further training courses and the buildings are thus designed to accommodate both conferences, representative events and other business activities. The IT University in Ørestad, Copenhagen, is a good example of this development.

Our ongoing educational projects, Campus Roskilde, Campus Aas and Kolding Campus carry on the tradition of an open study environment interacting with the outdoor space. In addition, sustainability is an integrated part of their design and they offer a beautiful interaction between the landscape and daylight.

The central element of our buildings remains human interaction – to create a stimulating framework for the users to unfold as social and knowledge-developing individuals.

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UNIVERSITY OF REYKJAVIK 32,000 M2, REYKJAVIK, ICELAND THE LARGE-SCALE BUILDING, IS DESIGNED LIKE A CIRCULAR, INDEPENDENT CITY WITH STREETS, SQUARES AND SHOPPING CENTRE. THE PROJECT REALISES THE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY AS A CITY ALLOWING THE INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS TO BE ORGANISED AS INDEPENDENT QUARTERS AROUND A UNITING, INNER SQUARE.

CAMPUS ROSKILDE 14,000 M2, ROSKILDE, DENMARK THE NEW CAMPUS WILL FACILITATE DIALOGUE AND RANDOM MEETINGS AND PROVIDE THE STUDENTS WITH A FEELING OF BEING PART OF A MANIFOLD UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT. CAMPUS ROSKILDE WILL CONSIST OF FOUR SQUARE BUILDINGS – SLIGHTLY ROTATED TOWARDS EACH OTHER.

NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES 70,000 M2, AAS, NORWAY THE PRESENT UNIVERSITY WILL BE MERGED WITH THE NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND THE NATIONAL VETERINARY INSTITUTE OF NORWAY IN NEW MODERN FACILITIES INTEGRATED WITH THE EXISTING HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN AAS.

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NEW LEARNING SPACES 2010

PRINCE NAIF CENTRE FOR HEALTH SCIENCE RESEARCH 23,800 M2, KING SAUD UNIVERSITY, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA CENTRE COMPRISES WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH FACILITIES, INCLUDING FACILITIES FOR RESEARCH IN CANCER, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, GENETICS, INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND SEVERAL OTHER MEDICAL DISCIPLINES.

FEMALE BRANCH OF PRINCE NAIF CENTRE FOR HEALTH SCIENCE RESEARCH 8,000 M2, KING SAUD UNIVERSITY, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND VIBRANT FACADE CONSTITUTES THE BUILDING AS A SIGNIFICANT LANDMARK IN THE CAMPUS AREA. THE OPEN SCIENCE SQUARE IS PLACED AT A CENTRAL LOCATION ENCIRCLED BY THE LABORATORIES, TEACHING FACILITIES AND FORMAL AND INFORMAL MEETING SPACES..

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CONTACT

Henning Larsen Architects A/S Vesterbrogade 76 1620 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: +45 8233 3000 Fax: +45 8233 3099 www.henninglarsen.com

Åke E:son Lindman (1, 4-5, 8-9, 10-11, 12, 13) Agnete Schlichtkrull (3, 26, 28) Tobias Wensien og Thorbjørn Hansen, Kontraframe (14-15, 18-19, 20-21, 24-25) Monica Larsen (22-23)

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