The Design Home is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Norwegian town Larvik got a new educational building with a minimalist architectural structure made of wood in traditional Norwegian style. Architects designed the school with the idea to have minimal environmental impact. Architects designed the new primary school Mesterfjellet using the old foundation and created new large recreational park and children’s playground.
Mesterfjellet school features a new typology that the architects called “vertical campus”. Instead of a traditional school atrium with an introvert central space, the vertical campus is made up of vertical multifunctional space, creating a link between indoor and outdoor areas.
Inside, the common spaces for education and recreation for children is centered around the vertical center dominated by the stair construction with bold pink platforms which make the school look like a theater and children can participate in the daily activities from each side.
The extrovert space has open stairs and platforms that further dominate when you look at the building from the outside. The facade sculpted from wood is aesthetically “disrupted” by the glass block which houses the dynamic core of the school. Additionally, the glass surfaces provide plenty of light, giving extra comfort and openness that establishes a dialogue with the exterior.
For the interiors, designers used wooden panels and decorative perforations that create images that tell stories with the related areas and classrooms. These motifs and images tell stories of history, Norse mythology and musical elements that together create an open narrative that the students can explore and discover during their educational journey.
(Photo Credits: Mikkel Frost, Jiri Havran)
