Located in Copenhagen, Denmark where the population is currently growing at a fast pace of over 1,000 new citizens a month, the city needed to increase its school facilities. South Harbour School is a public school with a maritime and public profile, inviting in its neighbours and reaching out to the city, becoming an active and socially sustainable part of its own community.

Public can also gain access to classrooms dedicated to specific subjects such as music and cooking classes. JJW Architects designed South Harbour with the understanding that schools are equally places for the learning process and also for social exchange. Surprises and new experiences are central concepts for South Harbour School. 

On each floor, plans change and the heights of the rooms vary throughout. These scale changes are central to the project where high ceiling open rooms are combined with more intimate, low-ceiling spaces. The school also features a variety of horizontal and vertical connections and spaces. The idea behind this design is to ensure that students, teachers and visitors will be surprised, challenged and stimulated as they move around the indoors and outdoors.

Also the dualities of activity/rest, light/dark, warm/chilly are all part of the concept. The school provides different spaces and environments to support the children’s learning processes and social abilities.