LILA – Landezine International Landscape Award 2021

Kalvebod Fælled Skole (Kalvebod Fælled School)

Kalvebod Fælled Skole is a newbuilt municipal primary and lower secondary school with a profile emphasizing sports and movement. The traditional schoolyard design is replaced with an undulating landscape that ani-mates intuitive play and movement – just like nature.

Turning the traditional schoolyard design inside out, the solution creates an open space that invites the local community in. The school is intended as an active cultural institution for the local area when the school day is over. The boundaries separating school, leisure activities and the local community are broken down, and local residents are invited to use both the gym and the outdoor areas surrounding the school as an active cultural venue on the edge of the commons, Kalvebod Fælled.

The open schoolyard is a cast-in-situ concrete landscape in an undulating design that refers to the site’s origin as reclaimed seabed. The concrete was developed specially for the project by specialists in skateparks and is able to stand up to the impact of wind and weather and active play. Large areas planted with trees form play sheltered areas offering protection from the strong winds. The contrast between the undulating, urban surface and dense plantings produces a high degree of spatial variation, and together, the varied areas create an inspiring universe that encourages children to play and be physically active. Reflecting the natural vegetation on the common, including dense clusters of grey willow and silver birch, the landscape appears as a natural extension of Kalvebod Fælled.

Sustainability
Kalvebod Fælled Skole is a spearhead project in the field of sustainable educational architecture. Regarding the landscape, the climate focus is evident in a high degree of biodiversity, climate adaptations and accessibility for all. The planting reflects the natural vegetation on the common and shows a high diversity of species. The school grounds are planted with a total of 502 trees, every one of them absorbing CO2.

The outdoor spaces of Kalvebod Faelled School are an engaging and inviting environment for children. The project develops a design language to handle programme spaces around the building. The ‘intercellular’ concrete pavement encourages running and moving about. A convivial archipelago of different rooms produces a multi-faceted playscape, from prefabricated, manufactured equipment to vegetation and topography as more abstract means of play.