Roskilde Festival Folk High School
Client:
Bygningsfonden Roskilde Festival Højskole, City of Roskilde, Realdania, Roskilde Festival Group, A.P. Møller Foundation, Knud Højgaards Fond and Tuborgfondet
Size:
5,578 m2
Program:
Transformation of former concrete production hall into folk high school, students’ dwellings, teachers’ dwellings and offices
Collaborators:
MVRDV, LIW Planning, Kragh & Berglund, Norconsult, Gade & Mortensen, Transsolar, Alectia, B. Nygaard Sørensen, Scandibyg
Awards:
German Design Award 2020, ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards 2020 Finalist, Årets Byggeri Foreningen for Bygnings- og Landskabskultur i Roskilde, RENOVER Prisen 2021 Shortlist
Roskilde Festival Folk High School is the first newly established and built general folk high school in Denmark in 50 years. It is situated in a former production hall for the Danish concrete manufacturer Unicon and neighbor to Ragnarock Museum. The building offers students and teachers a setting for creative projects based on voluntary engagement, a humanitarian focus, creativity and social entrepreneurship; the same ideals as the annual music event, Roskilde Festival. The repurposed concrete shell, which was originally a single open space, forms a robust counterpoint to 16 individually colored “village” boxes that give rise to a sheltered environment in between them; a learning landscape for experiments with urban social engagement.
The Unicon area – a former concrete factory – has a characteristic raw concrete expression. Utilizing the durability of the existing structures while being aware of the environmental challenges of producing new concrete, it was a premise for the design to reuse as much of the existing structure as possible.
The transformation of the former factory hall has preserved the existing raw concrete girders and pillars as relics of the past production era, while daylight has been let in with the addition of large windows throughout the hall.
The central common area, which retains the original eight-metre-high ceilings of the industrial space.
The hall, which was originally a single open space, today houses 16 large boxes in different colours and materials inspired by the neighbouring, world-famous Roskilde Music Festival. The boxes contain a variety of functions, including workshops for the school’s art courses, stages, music studios, dance hall, classrooms, staff room and an auditorium.
The colorful boxes house functions such as music room, wood workshop, dance hall, classrooms and a staff room. Each box is designed as a distinct space that provides an optimal setting for the students to engage. The space in between the boxes forms a central spine, extending from one side of the building to the other. Along this route lies a wooden tribune that acts as the school’s communal heart.