Young meets old in newly built school

Sandarnas School in Gothenburg shares a building and communal facilities with the city’s care home. What! architecture, which designed the project, has emphasised cosiness and healthy materials. The building is certified by the Swedish Green Building Council in the Silver category, and Troldtekt acoustic panels are part of the design.

The city of Gothenburg is bringing people together across generations. The newly built Sandarnas School with space for 400 pupils and a care home with 100 new flats will now share a building. It is the first of its kind in Sweden, where young and old alike share a dining hall, sports hall and outdoor environments, with the project being part of the development around the old Fixfabriken, where these days many new homes are being built.

The school is located on the first to third floors and the care home from the fourth to eighth floors. The building is certified by the Swedish Green Building Council in the Silver category, and what! arkitektur is behind the design.

"Designing a building for both school pupils and the elderly was an interesting challenge. We focused on timeless values and durable materials that people of all ages can relate to. Senior housing generally tends to feel more like a hospital than a home. In this case, we focused particularly on bright spaces, a coherent material palette and a 'sense of home', says Anna Risenfors, Architect SAR/MSA at what! architecture.

Well thought-out colours and materials

The facade is made of concrete elements with inlaid, sand-coloured bricks and fields of glazed bricks that catch the light and provide an interplay of colours.

"The concrete and cast brick exterior of the building is robust and almost a bit grandiose. We wanted to stress that schools and care homes are important buildings in the city," says Anna Risenfors.

Indoors, there was a pedagogical effort to make it easy for pupils to find their way around all parts of the school, and emphasis was placed on creating a cosy sense of home for the elderly, both in their own flats and in the communal areas," she explains.

"Natural materials, especially light-coloured pine panels, are used throughout the building's interior. Light and calm colours brighten things up and facilitate orientation. Each floor has its own colour scheme. The light blue colour, which is reflected in the railings and details throughout the project, is reminiscent of Gothenburg’s history and matches, among other things, the Älvsborg Bridge just outside the building.

Troldtekt as a part of environmental certification

Anna Risenfors explains that the project had strict environmental requirements, in which Troldtekt played an important role.

"We value the fact that Troldtekt, as a manufacturer, provides a lot of data. Designing Troldtekt acoustic panels into the project and knowing that they meet the requirements for acoustics, fire safety, strength, etc., makes the work much easier for us.

Both schools and care homes require robust materials. Troldtekt already meets high standards, but the fact that it is also possible to paint or replace individual panels was also a big plus.

"We also chose Troldtekt because it has an attractive materiality and goes together with the building's natural materials. As the acoustic panels can be painted in any colour, it was easy to use Troldtekt panels to match the building’s different colour palettes and hide installations.

In those parts of the school that are particularly exposed to noise, such as the dining hall, music room and creative rooms, the Troldtekt line design solution was chosen for the walls.