Skovbakke School Odder, Denmark
Skovbakke School replaces a series of older, scattered school buildings that were unfit for modern teaching methods. Instead, the new two-storey school is adaptable and supports modern education with a human-scale design. It combines space for 650 students and 100 day-care children in a diverse and transparent learning environment that promotes the interplay between subject areas and physical activity and play as a natural part of the children’s everyday lives.
The school consists of three wings with the daycare centre as a fourth wing connected to the structure. The structure is laid out as four offset fingers oriented towards a central atrium and three adjacent subject plazas with different themes – the creative plaza, the science plaza, and the sports plaza. This structure ensures direct access to the common spaces and the outdoor environment from all school areas, forming a clear spatial hierarchy.
The combination of high- and low-ceilinged, light and dim, small and vast spaces allows children to turn to different social situations – large assemblies, smaller groups or alone – depending on their needs and moods. The layout creates diverse outdoor spaces that accommodate varying needs for sunlight, shade, and shelter, and support different teaching activities.
Focus on exercise
Skovbakke School has a particular focus on exercise as a natural part of daily life. Fire access routes in the common areas are designed as running tracks. Moreover, the large central staircase encourages movement and play. In each classroom, there is an area designed specifically for physical activity. The school's multi-gym is directly linked to the school's common room, close to the heart of the school, allowing it to be used as an active play and movement area during breaks.
Co-creation process
The users were involved from the beginning of the project through workshops and discussions. The spatial organisation and interdependencies, as well as clusters and classrooms, were developed together with students, teachers and school leaders. Connecting the architect’s practice with educators and experts has proved valuable and influenced the final performance of the building.
Inspired by the surrounding nature and neighbourhood
The facade consists of lightweight prefabricated elements on a steel structure, allowing flexible window placement and daylight in all rooms. Walls between classrooms and common areas are lightweight, enabling windows and folding partitions that support visual and physical contact. Skylights are built on top of the steel structure, and in the heart of the school, a continuous lattice girder creates an almost column-free space.
Entrance areas, balconies, staircases and plateaus are covered with wood, and acoustic ceilings are made of eco-friendly material. Wooden sections accentuate all entrances, and in the interior, the striking staircase is also made of wood, conveying a physical connection to the architecture through this material. The colours reflect transitions between sky and trees. The use of pitched roofs and a human scale ensures a distinct identity. Situated in the forest park, Skovbakken (the Forest Hill) has preserved as many of the original trees as possible, conveying a soft transition to the green surroundings. The few trees that were cut down have been repurposed as furnishings inside.
Altogether, the structure and arrangement of volumes with their diverse facade design and peculiar windows result in a cheerful learning environment with a humane appeal, further emphasised by the round paths in the schoolyard, whose curvy shapes appear more playful than right angles.
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