Floraskolan

Built in Skellefteå on a former industrial site, Floraskolan is a new school with a new teaching concept and organization.

“We focused on making the school a place where all students and educators would find fertile ground for achieving their full potential and being able to bloom,” says Mats Jakobsson, lead architect on the assignment.

Experimental workshops and arenas

To give students and educators the best possible conditions, the new school is divided into various arenas. Like experimental workshops, each one has its own specific content. We have home arenas that belong to a specific group of students and teachers, as well as project arenas with shared premises and equipment. The arenas are linked together by spaces for common and support functions.

Glass and galvanized steel sheeting

From outside, the school rises up with a solitary shape that gives the site renewed purpose and content. The arenas stand out through their height, curved design and the organic material of the façade. Wide brown-glazed glulam panels also add a striking visual quality. The shorter building structures housing the support functions are visually quieter, with a façade in non-organic materials: hot galvanized steel sheeting and plenty of glass.

Plants and inspiration from Monet

Inside, many elements depart from the traditional school in terms of their pedagogic design. This includes the sizes and organization of classrooms, as well as creative room functions and an effort to avoid hallways that are merely hallways.

“The color scheme draws inspiration from the school’s name and an early sketch,” says Mats Jakobsson. “The sketch depicted the school’s organization as a colorful flower of functions.”

A plant-inspired palette brings vibrancy and identity to the interior. Monet’s garden and paintings inspired the various arenas, while the entrances and support functions feature colors from Sweden’s nature and materials that refer back to the exterior.