The Frida school

”The Frida school is an excellent model of how a school can be designed to stimulate learning and development in its pupils, but also to form a wonderful working environment for teachers and other staff. We have received incredibly good feedback from pupils, parents and teachers. We sensed immediately that Stolab's Lilla Åland chair would fit perfectly in the school's restaurant, partly from a design point of view but also from an environmental perspective.”

For the school in Gothenburg, the interior has been developed by a working group consisting of representatives from The Frida school, Tengbom and Input Interior. Tengbom has also designed products unique to the project. The Primary school and preschool are designed by Björn Sahlqvist Architect's office based on the Frida School's thoughts and ideas. The employees and students from the Frida school in Vänersborg have been involved in the process of developing the designs. Architect Björn Sahlqvist describes the school as follows: ”The Frida school is a vision of a hut up in the trees where, like Yggdrasil, the world-tree, the tree of knowledge, the dew of knowledge drips down from the branches over all the pupils in the school.” The pupils begin their schooling down at the bottom on the ground floor, in the introductory and first years. They then climb higher and higher with the passing years and reach year eight and can soon stand on their own two feet. Then they return to the entrance level to complete their attendance at the school.

The school is a square building, constructed simply around its geometrical shape, but with a central inner continuous room that connects all the floors. The idea was to aim for a flexible solution where teaching and individual study can arise spontaneously, in principle anywhere at all, and where room formations and learning environments can be re-designed and group sizes can be varied. A transparent design where a pupil can see but also be seen. The Frida school's aim is to lead the way in Sweden regarding well-being and social climate. In terms of sustainable long-term development, its aim is to be an ecologically sustainable organisation. This means that they choose to use materials that minimizes environmental impact in a global perspective. This includes segregating, reducing transport, and buying primarily ecological and locally produced goods. Electricity for the premises comes from wind power. The Frida schools have also succeeded, as the first schools in the Nordic region, in having the Nordic swan eco label for all their school restaurants. The Frida school was designed by Björn Sahlqvist ArkitektStudion AB, who also designed the nearby St Jörgen Park Resort.

Photo: Bert Leandersson