precedent study: 3XN's Ørestad Gymnasium
This precedent study looks at Ørestad Gymnasium, an upper secondary school in the developing neighbourhood of Ørestad in Metropolitan Copenhagen. It is the first secondary school built in Denmark emphasizing improved academic proficiency by allowing the students to be actively responsible for their own learning. The school focuses on cross-disciplinarity and IT-based learning through the dismissal of traditional classrooms and learning environments. The upper four floors pivot around the central stair to create a large shifting atrium space. This shift allows social interaction to occur between floors. As an alternative to the traditional classroom, the school is comprised of four study zones. Each zone is a flexible space for learning, supported by the ability to open and close walls creating variable environments of all sizes. The open concept plan of the top four stories accommodates the study zones and aids in promoting interaction amongst students. The central staircase is the anchor for the entire layout of the school. This stair ascends between all floors through to the roof terrace, providing primary circulation while being the heart of the schools educational methodology and social life. The allowance for double-height and triple-height spaces is created through the concentration of utility and administration programs below grade and on the main floor leaving the upper floors adaptable as needed. Three large cylinders pass vertically through the building, providing the primary structure and enclosing the emergency egress stairs. In addition, washrooms and elevators are contained within two of the three cylindrical structures. The primary structure is supplemented by numerous smaller columns, which at times shift to accommodate the layout and openings of the pivoting floor system. The school’s façade expresses the rotated floor plates by creating double-storey areas of glazing, which provide significant day-lighting to the interior, specifically in atrium spaces. The light is controlled by mechanical louvers, which can be opened and closed as required. These louvers support a sustainable interior environment.