Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium / BIG

Architects: Bjarke Ingels Group
Area: 1,100 m²
Year: 2013
Photography: Jens Lindhe
Lead Architects: Frederik Lyng, Finn Nørkjær
Engineering: EKJ Consulting Engineers
Contractor: CG Jensen, Klaus Mels Nielsen, Dion Munksgaard
Project Leader: Ole Schrøder, Ole Elkjær
Project Team: Narisara Ladawal Schröder, Henrick Poulsen, Dennis Rasmussen, Jeppe Ecklon, Rune Hansen, Riccardo Mariano, Christian Alvare Gomez, Xu Li, Jakob Lange, Thomas Juul-Jensen
Client: Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium
City: Helerup
Country: Denmark

Gammell Hellerup Gymnasium Sports hall deigned by BIG in Denmark has improved the school’s social and educational infrastructure by integrating a multifunctional space that support various activities. Completed in 2013, this innovative project creates a focal point on campus, enhancing student life with a subterranean sports hall and future educational facilities.

BIG created a multifunctional space for sports, graduation ceremonies, and social events. The new hall is a 1,100 m² area, sunken five meters below ground in the school’s courtyard, ensuring good indoor climate, low environmental impact, and high architectural quality. The hall features beveled concrete walls and a vaulted wooden roof formed by curved glued laminated timber beams. This roof functions as both an interior and exterior skin, complementing the existing 1950s yellow brick buildings. The hilly courtyard serves as an informal meeting place for various activities.

The exterior wooden deck comprises untreated oak wood and white enamel-coated steel benches, designed by BIG. At night, the benches and seating, equipped with tiny LED lights, illuminate the courtyard. The roof’s edge is a ling social bench with a lattice design that allows daylight to penetrate. Solar panels around the existing buildings provide heat for the hall.

Bjarke Ingels stated that instead of placing the hall outside the school, which would spread the social life further, the design creates a new focal point linking the school’s existing facilities. The roof’s shape was inspired by the trajectory of a thrown handball, reflecting the principle “form follows function,” and honors Ingels’ former math teacher by using the mathematical formula for a ballistic arc.

During the hall’s construction, BIG was commissioned to design another building on campus, adjacent to the multi-purpose hall. The next phase will connect the courtyard and hall with the sports fields and parking areas on the west side of the school. This future building, with a gross floor area of 1,400 m², will include two levels of education facilities and classrooms for art and cultural activities such as arts, music, drama, and student counseling. The design positions the classrooms next to the facade for natural light and views, while secondary functions are located at the rear and partially below ground level. The building will use a column/beam system and stabilizing concrete walls. the materials selection aims to creates visual unity for the school, incorporating glass facades, a single-sided sloped green roof, and concrete paving. The next phase is set for completion in Summer 2014.