TRAINING
Atuarfik Inussuk was delayed by more than 2 years in the construction process. But in August, the school finally opened its doors to the nearly 1,000 students. The building has now been nominated for this year’s school construction.
Atuarfik Inussuk in Nuuk is among the candidates for School Construction of the Year 2026, which is chosen by the company Nohrcon, which specializes in holding courses on tender law and construction law and conferences on the construction of the future.
Since 2013, they have chosen the country’s best and most well-thought-out school building every year, and this year Atuarfik Inussuk is therefore among the nominees.
The learning environments of the future
According to Nohrcon, the annual award aims to focus on the school projects that contribute to developing the learning environments of the future. The award includes both new construction and renovation projects and is aimed at schools and learning environments that, in their own way, contribute with strong architecture, a good framework for learning and valuable inspiration for the industry.
The aim is not only to choose a winner, but also to highlight the good examples and strengthen the sharing of knowledge across disciplines, writes Nohrcon.
A school within a school
About Atuarfik Inussuk it says that it is organized as six connected houses around an inner street and a seventh building for the associated daycare, which is also part of the construction.
– Atuarfik Inussuk is in many ways a special school. It is large, but divided into smaller houses, so that the children have their own safe base and at the same time are part of a larger community. The architecture is shaped by the special conditions in Nuuk, both the climate, the light and the landscape, and we have also drawn the Greenlandic nature and culture into the expression of the school. I am particularly pleased with how it has all turned into a school with lots of light, spatial experiences and character. It is a school I myself would like to go to, says director and partner in KHR Architecture, Janina Zerbe, who has been responsible for the construction.
Positive feedback
KHR Architecture writes to Sermitsiaq that although there was some controversy surrounding the delays in the construction process, the feedback from users today is very positive.
– I am of course very happy that Atuarfik Inussuk has been nominated for School Building of the Year. It has been a large project with many people involved, and there are several years of work behind it. But the most important thing is that the school is now in use, and that the children and staff make the school live and become an active house in the city. I am especially happy that the cultural and sports facilities are also used outside school hours, and make the school a meeting point.
If Atuarfik Inussuk wins, it will be the first time a school in Greenland receives the award.
– The school was designed based on Greenland’s special nature, climate and culture, and a prize would be a nice recognition of both the school and Nuuk, says the architect firm.
If you want to vote for Atuarfik Inussuk or one of the other school buildings, you can do so via the following link. You can vote until 1 November: https://nohrcon.dk/vidensbank/kaaring-af-aarets-skolebyggeri/
