BIG gets commission to design education facility on Faroe Islands

KUALA LUMPUR:  Danish architectural firm BIG (Bjarke Ingles Group) in collaboration with a group of consultants including Fuglark Architects, Lemming & Eriksson, Samal Johannesen, Martin Leo and KJ Elrad, have won a competition to design the Faroe Islands Education Centre recently.

Located on the outskirts of the capital of Faroe Islands, Torshavn, the development is located on a hillside, 328ft above sea level with a panoramic view of the sea and harbour of Torshavn. It will cover over 206,667 sq ft and house the Faroe Islands Gymnasium, Torshavns Technical College and Business College of Faroe Islands. Approximately 1,200 students and 300 teachers will inhabit the space. The design is based on a vortex, where the structure will stretch outward while at the same time focusing in on the school’s inner landscape.

“The school is… formed by the considerations to the internal functional needs rather than external limitations. The architectural expression of the new education centre captures the essence of form follows function," shares Bjarke Ingels, the Creative Director of BIG.

“The architecture of the school emphasises an educational equality, with lobbies and the central rotunda space promoting a sense of community across the three different schools,” adds Jakup Pauli Johannesen of Fuglark Architects

The winning design was unanimously voted on by the judges of the competition made up of an architect, representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Landsverk together with principals from each of the three schools.

The Faroe Islands is a group of islands situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland.