Askim School

Location: Askim
Commission: First prize, invited competition
Job type: Secondary school (720 pupils), included a multipurpose hall
Contracting builder: Askim Kommune
Total area: 10 800 m2
Completion: September 2013
Project team: C. Adams, K. Bartels, K. Dorsch, B. Dyvik, O. Hagen, O. H. Hiorth, H. Salvesen
Landscape: Bjørbekk & Lindheim AS
Interior: div.A arkitekter

On a plot of a closed farm just outside the centre, Askim municipality wanted to build a school for 720 pupils and a multi -use hall. In the competition proposal, we chose to keep the farm yard intact to give the place an identity and to preserve historical tracks as well as beautiful vegetation. The building body is laid as a back towards the inner ring road and as a frame for a south -facing, lively and inviting outdoor space.

The main access to the school is from the east, where there is a covered area that leads to both decentralized entrances for pupils as well as the main entrance. The main entrance leads you to a 2 -storey vestibule as a central, common heart with an amphitheater that ties together school and sports hall.

The height difference on the site is utilized by laying the multi -use hall at the basement level. The hall has its own entrance to the west for evening use. The short side of the sports hall can be opened to the school amphitheater and can thus be used for large events or to gather the entire school.

A compact building based on a rational constructive system that can meet requirements for flexibility, economy and energy economy. With a simple, playful and characteristic architectural expression that plays on material contrast, contrast between open and closed and dimmed of scale.