Ørestad High School (Ørestad Gymnasium) is the first in Denmark with an architectural design that corresponds to the new visions on content, subject matter, organization, and learning systems that are part of the new Danish reforms for high schools that came into effect on August 1, 2005. Flexibility and openness are key words for the new building, which has open rooms, subject zones, niches for creativity and concentration, and free access everywhere to the virtual space. The school is located across from the Fields’ shopping mall close to Ørestad Metro Station.
Traditional spaces such as classrooms and lounges no longer exist in the high school of the future. Instead, the building is divided into four “study zones.” Each has its own story, designed like a boomerang and staggered like a shutter on a camera. The stories are linked by a wide, spiral staircase that winds up toward the roof terrace. The staircase is the main axis in the tall foyer – the X-zone – that creates physical and visual links between the different study zones and supports an interdisciplinary approach.
