Granstangen School, Oslo

Project description

Granstangen middle school for 8th to 10th grades is located at Furuset in Oslo. Here all functions are grouped together in a logical structure. This facilitates the sharing of space and functions. Possibilities for subdividing the building in the evenings was an important aspect in the design process. With its simple volume and rational structure, the school retains the ability to adapt – to make relatively large adjustments without expensive and comprehensive changes in the structure.

The main objective of the building is to create an area-efficient school that also provides a good framework for teaching and social life at school. The school is organised around a central area, containing the school´s common room, canteen, auditorium and changing rooms. All entrances are directly connected, both visually and functionally, with the central area.

The school is intended to be a social meeting place for the neighbourhood, with inviting outdoor areas catering to diverse interests, and adjacent green areas. For the school the focus is on giving students the possibility for social expression and physical activity while retaining natural elements and opening for outdoor teaching.

Low carbon strategies

The school is easily accessible by public transport and safe footpaths from all directions. There is a minimum of car parking and 148 bicycle-parking places at the school. Half of these are covered.

The compact building creates a low surface area compared to useful space and reduces the loss of heat. At the same time the project has succeeded in designing a building with good daylight conditions. One of the results of the focus on area-efficiency is that the gym hall shares an internal wall and a façade with the rest of the school.

The project has a heating solution with a geothermal heat pump that covers at least 80 percent of space heating requirements, ventilation and DHW. In addition, ventilation air can be cooled and the boreholes recharged during the summer. An electric boiler covers the remaining heating requirements.

High quality materials with long life expectancy and minimal maintenance requirements were another important focus for the design team. An environmental analysis was carried out for each of the primary materials chosen for the building. A low-carbon concrete is used in all concrete cast in situ, and 90 percent of the steel used in the project is recycled. Drywall is replaced by fibre drywall, where a board in most circumstances has equally good or better characteristics with respect to fire and acoustics as double drywall sheets. Wooden studs are used in the outer walls. Inside there is a natural stone floor in the well-trafficked common areas on the ground floor. Other floor coverings are sheet flooring and oak parquet.

The façade is clad in iron vitriol treated larch that does not need surface treatment or maintenance after installation. Robust materials are used in stairs, borders and walls (concrete cast in situ and granite). Tarmac is mainly used for outdoor surfaces, and kerbs are made from dressed granite runners. In the entrances concrete is used in situ.  

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Project Information