Project Facts
- Location: Bekkestua
- Country: Norway
- Year of Completion: 2009
- Client: Oslo International School
- Architect:Jarmund / Vignaes Website
- Size: 7200 m2 (3900 m2 new build, 3300 m2 refurbishment)
- Pupils: 500
- Construction Sum: M [2009]
- School building Programme/ Initiative: n/a
Overview
The refurbishment and extension of an existing 1960s school building provides a cost effective solution to the changing needs of an educational establishment. A clever interplay of pavilions and courtyard and atrium spaces helps to structure this Through school and provide learning environments suited to the range of different students, who come from embassy, corporate and local families from more than 50 different countries. Intelligent phasing of the building programme meant that the school could remain operational throughout the expansion works.
Themes
Integrated flexibility for space and learning
The second phase of the school’s extension was the addition of a large pavilion, which also builds out like an extra wing of the original building footprint. This pavilion houses classrooms dedicated to the youngest children and office space, all arranged around a small internal atrium, maximizing natural light. Around the atrium, classroom sizes can be altered depending on the numbers of students in each age group.
Integrated social and physical context
The architects’ motivations in keeping the existing 1960s building were not purely driven by cost-saving measures or sustainable principles. Rather, they appreciated the importance of continuity in the built environment as part of local ‘cultural continuity’.
The single story rectangular perimeter block arranged around a courtyard provided advantages in terms of natural lighting, and a strong relationship to the surrounding built and natural environment, while a modular approach to space planning meant that the building can be flexible programmatically. The new additions to the building include the pavilion for younger students (discussed above), a new wing to the North, designed to house sports, music and drama facilities, and a number of smaller pavilions which abut the inside of the original courtyard.
Innovative solutions to specific areas or smaller spaces
The small pavilions of the first phase of works played a double role, housing science labs, a library and an internal ‘main square’, but also ‘cutting into’ the rectangular courtyard, they also break up this large space into more intimate and quieter areas. These outdoor spaces were designed to accommodate the quieter activities of older students, and the white-gravel ground and mature trees help to create an atmosphere of reflection as well as recreation space.
Sources
Helsing Almaas, Ingerid (2008) ‘Jarmund Vigsnaes Architects: Resistance and Precision’, Arkitektur N, 90(2): 18-29. (Oslo International School, pp. 28-9)
MacKeith, Peter (2009) Building Types Study - Schools K-12: Oslo International School, Architectural Record, accessed from: http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/BTS/archives/K-12/09_Oslo/default.asp, access date: 7 October 2009
Saieh, Nico (2009) Oslo International School / JVA, Arch Daily, accessed from: http://www.archdaily.com/16715/oslo-international-school-jva/, access date: 7 October 2009
‘Armund/Vigsnaes Architecture: Oslo International School’, Design Boom 27 July 2009, accessed from: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/7107/jarmundvigsnaes-architecture-oslo-international-school.html, access date: 7 October 2009
Links
Oslo International School Website
