Description
Munkegårdsskolen in Gentofte near Copenhagen was initially designed and built in
1956 by Arne Jacobsen and is considered one of his finest projects. The school
was registered as a protected building in 1995 in recognition of its
architectural significance. The school was one of the first Danish single-storey
schools. After some 50 years, the school was in need of significant overhaul and
modernisation to meet modern educational standards and provide contemporary
facilities. Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter worked with the Gentofte Architecture
Advisory Panel to modernise and restore the school.
The original building comprised a series of pavilions arranged in a grid system,
enclosing a series of courtyard gardens. Jacobsen designed everything from the
building plan to the door handles and even the furniture at which the children
were to sit. The new work sought to restore the original building whilst
enabling the school to respond to modern teaching pedagogies. The additions,
chiefly consisting of four glazed courtyards, allow for more open-plan teaching
spaces, improved circulation and common facilities such as eating areas and
toilets. The new areas are located underground, under the original school yard,
and follow the strict grid set out by the Jacobsen building. The architects
worked closely with the Daylight Laboratory at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in
Copenhagen to maximise daylight conditions deep within the space. Four
crystalline light wells puncture the surface of the school yard dropping
daylight into the new underground spaces. This move ensures the legibility of
Jacobsen’s original plan is retained whilst creating new and dynamic space at
the heart of the school, making it relevant and useable for the 21st century.
The original school consists of a repeated structure of buildings and
courtyards. The underground extension used this theme, establishing daylight in
the parterre plan via the four large courtyards, designed as ‘crystal-like
openings.’ According to the architects the extension was designed ‘to embrace
interaction and diversity and allow students to learn from each other, formally
and informally, through the adaptability and flexibility of the learning
spaces.’
Particular care was taken to design the toilets at Munkegårdsskolen. They are
internal, without external light to aid the comfort and atmosphere of the space.
In order to give them coherence and drama, the cubicle walls, doors and the
floor are all made of the same bold, contemporary, rambling botanical design in
a bright green plastic laminate. This combined with the well-designed lighting
installation makes the toilets feel luxurious and special, one large sculptural
form.
Drawings
Lower ground floor with section indicators, scale 1:1000
Lower ground floor (upper floor indicated with dotted lines), scale
1:200
Longitudinal section AA, scale 1:200
Cross section DD, scale 1:200
Cross section E-E, scale 1:200
Photos
Exterior view at night of existing school with new courtyard
Interior view of laboratory and glazed courtyard
Axonometric diagram showing existing school and extension
Originally published in: Prue Chiles (ed.), Leo Care, Howard Evans, Anna Holder, Claire Kemp, Building Schools: Key Issues for Contemporary Design, Birkhäuser, 2015.