Vrå Public School | AART architects

Vrå Public School paves the way for new approaches to stimulating the ability and desire of children to learn by incorporating learning and landscape into one, giving children the opportunity to play and learn in a complete ecosystem that changes over time – over the course of a day, but also with the passing of the seasons.

A range of services
Vrå Public School is a unique project that focuses on children’s play, learning and development and brings together a wide range of services for the city’s inhabitants, both children and grown-ups. The construction of the school also includes a daycare institution, library, sports hall and outdoor activity area, all of which is built in close interaction with the scenic natural surroundings.

A play and learning landscape
What makes this project unique is the interaction between learning and landscape. It is built on a sustainable ambition to create a complete ecosystem for play and learning, manifesting itself in a play and learning landscape where the forest becomes the school and vice-versa. The outside and inside blend together, turning the school into a ‘Learning forest’ in which culture and nature, as well as learning and sustainability, come together in a close and innovative learning environment.

The heart of the school
The school consists of clusters around a core area, or ‘heart’. This unifying square brings together the landscape, arrival area and clusters with the sports hall, library, daycare institution, teaching areas and classes in an open, atmospheric concept. In addition, the two inner courtyards lend the space a light, bright and vibrant quality while also subdividing it into a number of clearly defined zones.