Samsø Free School

Samsø Free School has formulated a vision for an entirely new type of school in harmony with nature and the local community. NORD Architects, in collaboration with the school and Foreningen Forte (Association Forte), has developed a concept for how the school can be established in unique and sustainable surroundings.

In a small three-hectare forest on the island of Samsø lies a burial mound, an old main house, and a large barn that is well over a hundred years old. Excavations show that a royal castle once stood here. Foreningen Forte has leased the area and decided to bring it to life with an ambition to relocate Samsø Free School to the small forest.

For decades, the mound, main house, and barn have stood unused – except for the storage of hay and seeds in the large barn, which has also provided space for a diverse life of trees, bushes, and other vegetation. The area is a natural enclave in the middle of cultivated land. Therefore, the future school must also be realized in close dialogue with the surrounding nature, just as it will become a significant part of the students’ school day, the locals’ everyday life, and visitors’ experience.

The school will not resemble an ordinary school. It will be an example of a new form of schooling where teaching takes place in alternative settings. The school is supported by an architecture that has grown out of the place, consisting of a series of varied teaching and gathering platforms and spaces that are flexible in scale and use. This variation provides potential for involving the entire local community while constructing a school within regulatory restrictions for the area.

The two buildings on the site, the barn and main house, are developed into multifunctional gathering places. Subject-specific classrooms are established as mobile units and pavilions that can be moved around the area or to other locations on the island. A series of site-specific nature spaces are established in the area, consisting of lightweight timber constructions and biogenic materials. There will be pop-up teaching in movable elements that can be used in teaching, such as tents and cargo bikes.