Client projects: Fredrika Bremergymnasiet

Sustainable and functional

The Fredrika Bremergymnasiet (Upper Secondary) school refurbished and extended a part of its site for its vocational facilities. The new premises accommodate some of the school's vocational programmes. It comprises programmes for building and construction, electricity and energy, vehicles and transportation, as well as the industrial technology programme. The programmes require special teaching premises as well as ordinary classrooms, rooms for group activities and functional furniture in the corridors.

WHEN THE FUNCTION CAN BE SEEN

During the construction of the second school building for Fredrika Bremergymnasiet, materials such as weathering steel, cedarwood and raw concrete were selected in order to reinforce the impression of the rustic premises. A simple design came to play an important role as it was important to demonstrate in a comprehensible way how a building is constructed and how different parts interact in a harmonious whole. The concrete pillars are visible here, and the raw concrete is a clear contrast to the warmer wood panels. The newly-built section is linked together with the existing school through a glazed walkway which connects both of the buildings together in a natural way. Glass is selected throughout as a material and it recurs in both classrooms and group rooms. With the red accent colour, the glass gives the school its unique expression.

Fredrika Bremergymnasiet has been highly involved in both the building and the interior design of the school from an early stage. The new premises will have a major focus on vocational programmes that require both a lot of space and a robust environment. Furnishings are therefore needed which can cope with the strains to which this environment subjects them.

The corridors contain on-site built furniture which mixes pure wooden, painted and upholstered components in interesting combinations. It is easy for the students to sit down here and they form natural meeting places. Power sockets have been built into the sofas so that they can also function as workplaces. It was important that the furnishings in the corridors were fixed in place to prevent them from being moved around.

The classrooms are simple and entirely in black and white. This was chosen by the school together with the interior architect in order to preserve calmness in the teaching environment. Much of the teaching in a vocational secondary school takes place in rooms that are specially adapted for each subject. That's why the choice was made to keep the classrooms for the various subjects as simple and minimalistic as possible.

Quality and sustainability

Building a new school always entails major challenges, as high requirements are placed on both building and interior maintaining a high standard and meeting environmental and sustainability requirements. There has been a major focus on energy efficiency and the school became Sweden's most energy-efficient vocational school when it was completed.

A focus on sustainability has been maintained throughout the entire build and furnishing of the school, just like the concept of allowing the raw materials to be on display. The interior design has also been characterised by the concept that you should be able to see how it is constructed, while still being functional and of high quality in order to cope with the wear that a vocational school places on its furniture.

That was what led to Kinnarps being the supplier that best met the requirements the school had for its furnishings after the procurement process. Fredrika Bremergymnasiet has previously collaborated with Kinnarps and was extremely pleased with the service, quality and technical performance that was provided. Together we have created a school that equips its students for the future.