2_1_ScanMag_57_Oct_2013_Text:Scan Magazine 1
30/9/13
16:44
Page 88
Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Danish Architecture
Airy architecture grounded on solid experience RUBOW arkitekter has been designing schools, day care centres and nursing homes for decades. But that does not mean that the firm is stuck on repeat; on the contrary, it never creates two similar solutions. Each project is based on the specific characteristics of the site, the building’s function and, most importantly, the needs of the people who are going to use it. By Signe Hansen | Photos: RUBOW arkitekter
When RUBOW arkitekter wins almost every second competition it enters, it is not only because of the firm’s vast experience within environmental and social sustainability. It is also because RUBOW’s architects meticulously tailor every proposal to meet the specific demands and needs of the project. The result is that the numerous schools, day care centres and nursing homes designed by RUBOW arkitekter differ a lot, as all parameters, the architectonical, technical, economic, social and environmental, are interwoven.
88 | Issue 57 | October 2013
“What is interesting about this is that we never know where it will take us. It is the potential of the project and the site that is our inspiration, and this means that the outcome is always specific, never general. That’s probably one of the reasons that so many of our proposals are successful: people never know what to expect from us, and that can be an advantage because it gives us the freedom to do something new and unexpected,” explains partner at RUBOW, Susanne Hansen, stressing: “Every time we create a pro-
posal, we build it on our fundamental values in relation to people and welfare, and we don’t want to compromise on those.” Interpreting the site RUBOW arkitekter has won a string of architectural competitions in recent years. A striking example of how the firm innovatively interprets and utilises the site-specific characteristics of a project is the Vilhelmsro School in the municipality of Fredensborg. The school consists of ten structures, clad in slate tiles, on poles to match the structure of the forest that surrounds it. Natural sunlight is led through light prisms deep into the core of the buildings. The forest as a theme inspired the design of the spaces inside and outside of the buildings, giving children, teachers, parents and neighbours alike new possibilities and experiences.