The Stedelijk Innova - tailored learning in a customized school

For The Urban Innova atelier PRO transformed an existing building on the outskirts of Enschede into a compact, sustainable and unique secondary school. Innova teaches according to the Kunskapsskolan method, an innovative educational concept that offers students personalized training; this concept was decisive for our design.

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Kunskapsskolan is a method for personal education developed in Sweden that assumes that each student is unique, with their own ambitions and talents. Students therefore have an individual schedule and their own coach. Central to the Kunskapsskolan method is the learning domain, an educational environment where different teaching and working methods are possible. The learning domains are supplemented with classrooms where subject teachers can give instructions, with lecture halls, classrooms, a canteen and a (school) library.

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It is therefore an educational vision that requires an appropriate design, with plenty of space to meet and with multiple and flexible use of space. Atelier PRO responded to this by creating different types of spatial 'settings': Campfires, Caves and Watering Holes. In addition, there are Campfires theater-like places where students can gather around an expert who tells a compelling story; Watering Holes are spaces where students work together on projects and learn from each other, and Caves spaces where students retire to study in a focused way. This creates a building where all students have a place that is personal - just like Het Stedelijk Innova's education.