Klostermarksskolen in Aalborg was founded in 1871 and has proud traditions of community and creativity, combined with modern forms of learning. The task involves modernising and expanding the school. The vision for the extension to Klostermarksskolen is to create a building that, with its architecture, incorporates the existing buildings and playfully interacts with them. The surrounding area is enriched with buildings, each of which has a distinctive and high quality architecture. It is to this context that the extension of Klostermarksskolen school shall adapt. The new teaching building mixes the city''s hard materials and scale with the school''s soft, green and inviting expression, to become a place that creates a good and safe environment for the children.
Interaction between outside and inside
The school''s new extension consists of three teaching rooms: a multi-purpose hall, natural science department and visual arts department. These are spread over three floors, where the façades reflect the building''s features. The high interior of the multi-purpose hall is reflected in the façade with large windows that invite the surroundings in and ensure transparency between the city and the school. The multi-purpose hall opens up to the school playground, where an extended activity staircase creates interaction between outside and inside. The activity staircase can be used as an amphitheatre in the summer. The brickwork is clad with wooden mouldings to provide a base for climbing plants, which give the children pleasing materials in their vicinity. The natural science floor is more traditional in terms of its façade, with its storey height and window composition, and details such as partly recessed brick sections. The visual arts floor is built with a special studio-like atmosphere, with no window openings to the north or south. Two east facing skylights ensure exciting working light for the art rooms. The skylights appear in the façade as distinctive roof shapes that help give the building its identity and reflect its function. On the roof, and directly connected to the visual arts floor, a rooftop terrace is accessible to all.