New Fredensborg school - Vilhelmsro

Fredensborg, Denmark

Photo © Mathias Juel Christensen

Architects: RUBOW arkitekter

Location: vilhelmsro, fredensborg, 3480 Fredensborg, Denmark
Year: 2013

The new Vilhelmsro School is situated, where the forest meets the open land. These strong elements of nature have become the structural inspiration for the school.

A cluster of small souvereign buildings with flexible plans makes together a complexity of closed intimate spaces with various connections and views to the landscape, places of light and shadow. In this plan of mass and envelope, building and open land, the school gets a large composition of spaces to inhabit with different educational programmes. Also, the possibility to go outside is near to every child, making work and leisure well connected.

Each building is inspired by the tree in the forest. And, as in the forest, being at the base of the tree and in the tree top is two very different experiences. In the school buildings, the main floor is defined as a series of columns with direct connection with the outdoor floor of nature. The second floor is more intimate, as being in a tree top, with well-defined openings in the facade suitable for the children to sit in, overviewing the forest and the sky.

The school consists of 8 individual buildings connected with small bridges on the second floor. This allows for free flows around each building on the ground, bringing richness and variation to the outdoor spaces.