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She Has Designed Schools for More Than 20 Years: Katja Viltoft Sees One Key Trend That Will Shape the Future of School Architecture

»Building schools is about building communities,« says architect and partner at JJW Architects, Katja Viltoft. Here, she answers six questions about creating the “good school.”

By Dansk Arkitektur Center

How do schools reflect the society we live in?

»Building schools is about building communities. When society changes, schools change as well - they reflect the developments we go through. That’s why schools are constantly evolving and transforming. The major common denominator is that they serve as central beacons in society - both physically and mentally. Physically, they are landmarks within the local community. Mentally, schools are among the key institutions that tell us who we are as a society.«

How has the approach to school construction changed over the years?

»In the past, the main focus was solely on ensuring that students learned to read, write, and do arithmetic. Over time, greater attention was given to community, which led, among other things, to the construction of large auditorium-style schools where everyone could gather.

In the 1970s, the focus shifted toward low, decentralized schools that emphasized closeness to nature and direct access from classrooms to outdoor areas.

In more recent years, new movements have emerged around teaching methods: How much should the teacher stand at the lectern delivering traditional instruction, and how much should be group work, interdisciplinary projects, and more open-ended learning formats? When the school day is envisioned as more fluid, the spaces become more open and flexible. Conversely, when the emphasis is on standardized testing, such as the PISA exams, the structure tightens again, and the classroom - with teacher-led instruction—returns to a more central role.«

  • About Katja Viltoft

    Katja Viltoft is an architect and partner at JJW Arkitekter. For more than 20 years, she has specialized in creating learning environments and has designed countless school projects.

    Photo: Laura Stamer

What inspires you when you design a school?

»I’m deeply inspired by how we can create frameworks that truly work. When we sit down to draw, or when we’re in dialogue with teachers, we always have a vision that what we create should have an impact and contribute to a good childhood. But that vision only has value if the buildings are actually used and appreciated by the people who need them.

That’s why it’s an immense satisfaction to visit afterwards and see that it really works in practice - that students use the little group alcove, that they love the climbing element, that the classroom acoustics are good enough to allow for focus and concentration. Or noticing that nearly a dozen students are piled into a window nook simply because they think it’s the coolest place to be.«

Are there any projects you are particularly proud of?

»There are many beautiful schools in Denmark, and we always carry the best lessons from earlier projects forward into the new ones. For an architect, it’s about going back to the fundamentals: there must be good daylight, high ceilings, and beauty. That way, the buildings can still be relevant many years from now, even as teaching methods evolve again. There are three recent schools in particular that we’ve worked on, which I find especially interesting.«

Udvalgte skoler

  • Skolen i Sydhavnen

    »The school in Sydhavnen, which opened in 2015, also became a gathering place and a catalyst for an entirely new neighborhood in Sydhavnen that hadn’t existed before. In fact, real development of the area couldn’t truly begin until it was certain that a school would be built.«

    Read more about the school in Sydhavnen.

  • Grøndalsvængets School

    »Here we worked on expanding an existing school in the Nordvest district. The old building consists of a long wing, where boys used to be on one end and girls on the other, so they wouldn’t meet each other. That says a lot about the ideals that shaped school architecture around 1920, when the school was first built.«

    Read more about Grøndalsvængets School.

  • Sluseholmen School

    »Sluseholmen School is a classic city school on a very small site—with a busy road on one side and canals on the other. The challenge here was to create quality outdoor spaces, even though there was hardly any room. The solution was to move much of the outdoor life up onto the rooftops. Now there is both a playground for the students and a city park for the local community. On top, there’s even a sports hall that is open to the public.«

    Read more about Sluseholmen School.

    Photo: Torben Eskerod
    Photo: Torben Eskerod
    Photo: Torben Eskerod

Do you see any new trends in the way we design schools?

»Today we clearly see a trend toward more hands-on, practice-oriented teaching - through workshops, for example - as well as a greater openness toward the community, so students don’t become tired of school. There is more emphasis on physical activity and on creating differentiated learning environments.

In the past, a school typically consisted of a classroom, an auditorium, and a shared corridor space. Today, schools are much more like a spectrum of different spatial possibilities: places where an individual can dive into a book in peace and quiet; areas for pairs of students; rooms for half a class; and large areas where many students can work together across classes on projects. Added to this are numerous workshops and practical learning spaces.

The challenge is to provide this variety without making schools twice as large. The counterbalancing demand is sustainability - we need to avoid vast amounts of unused square footage and instead make the most of every space.«

What do you think the schools of the future will focus on?

»The big theme right now is how we can address the needs of the many children with special needs and diagnoses. The approach is often based on the mantra that what benefits children with special needs usually benefits many other children as well.

It’s a complex issue, and for architects the task is to figure out how the building’s layout and design can support the needs of special-needs students - without isolating them in small boxes. These should be schools that also allow for community, access to nature, and opportunities for inspiration.«

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