Frederiksbjerg School

Frederiksbjerg – the school of the future

A school built for modern children and educational practice, with a focus on movement.
Frederiksbjerg School is the first new school to be built in Central Aarhus for more than a century.
The vision was to create the school of the future and to make it the heart of a coherent environment for children and young people in Central Aarhus. A total of 900 children now spend their days in modern new facilities that underpin the educational theories with clear reference to Denmark’s recent school reform.

The traditional classrooms have been dropped and the focus is on the users and the surrounding community, and on creating spaces for movement activities, both indoors and outdoors – a clear “movement DNA” throughout the entire building.

HOLMRIS B8 is behind the furniture for the project in close collaboration with SMAK architects, who created the interior design plan in which changeability and flexibility are the keywords for Frederiksbjerg School’s overall design.

Modular furniture creates a world of possibilities
The interior design supports flexibility and changeability. Due to their modular shapes, the furniture can be combined in countless ways. The classroom furniture can be combined with the furniture in the common areas and vice-versa. This allows the teachers to programme the rooms for the functions of the individual learning activities.

When the new school in Frederiksbjerg opened its doors to pupils, staff and local residents in August 2016, the many ideas behind the extensive and ambitious project were put to the test. It was time to test and establish new cultures, and to replace old habits with new ones. Pupils, teachers, parents and management all had to learn to utilise the school in a new way.

Winner of Danish School Building of the Year 2016
Frederiksbjerg School won the award for Danish School Building of the Year 2016 in keen competition with four other schools. In their justification, the jury highlighted how the architecture embraces the school reform and delivers on the aspect of more movement, both indoors and outdoors.