International People's College

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE'S COLLEGE

URBAN POWER

ARCHITECTS
Urban Power

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Rune Veile

ADVISOR
Weile Arkitekter

ENGINEER
Henry Jensen

CLIENT
International People's College

CLIENT ADVISOR
Atrium

PARTNER
Arne Cermak Nielsen, Sara Buhl Bjelke, Kathrine Blichsted Brauer, Niels Kærsgaard, Javier Gutierrez Sainz, Christian Jensen, Kinga Murawska, Ewelina Purta, Jan Ole Hansen, Michael Dragschitz, Tien-yi Su

CONTRACTOR
Vida

ACOUSTICS
Gade & Mortensen

AREA
1350 M²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Elsinor, Denmark

CATEGORY
Schools, Other Facilities

Text description provided by architect.

With an international and diverse profile, the International People’s College (IPC) has since 1921 been a place for international students to meet, learn and exchange thoughts and opinions, as a part of the Danish Folk High School culture.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

URBAN POWER won the 1st prize in an invited competition in 2018, and has implemented the detailed design and supervised the construction of a new extension.

The new extension of the IPC adds new teaching rooms, and a social core space for future events and debates, as a part of the school’s focus on dialogue, transparency, and global outsight.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

This is enhanced by the fact that the students in the new extension building will have a 360-degree view around the surrounding park and in principle towards the whole world.

The creation extension to the existing school building, made in traditional yellow brick by the Danish architect Steen Eiler Rasmussen, has been developed as a light building that respects the existing design unifying it with a contemporary appearance and form.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

The key concept for the extension is creating a frame for a wide range of valuable learning experiences, in a building that interacts with the existing landscape, with a high degree of flexibility in functionality.

The extension is two buildings - a hidden part beneath the landscape and the main building containing the grand UN hall.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

To efficiently take advantage of the small site area, innovative technological solutions were employed to provide the IPC with new, functional social spaces and learning facilities.

The resulting plan incorporates sustainable materials and multi-use spaces:

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

The hall is seamlessly expandable through the opening of doors, making outside lessons achievable close to the park and lake, while the wooden furniture and mobile interior can be rolled aside in order to make space for performances or social gatherings amongst others.

The main building's primary material for construction as well as the facade cladding is wood, highlighting the main structure pillars vertically and creating slats variations horizontally, with a descending pattern incorporated in the sloping landscape towards the outdoor garden.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

Already at the early stages of the project, it was decided to introduce sustainability as a core value - both in regard to building materials, rainwater harvesting as well as the indoor climate.

The lower building is deliberately integrated into the terrain with grass on the roof and in tune with the landscape which the school previously was more detached from.

International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile

For this, building functions such as lounge, music, and party rooms are placed underground and separately from the main building in order to achieve a noise-reducing effect, not disturbing those students who wish to sleep and rest.The new IPC extension will be a framework of social encounters, cultural meetings, and democratic


International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile
International People's College
Courtesy of Rune Veile


International People's College
Site plan
International People's College
Floor plan


International People's College
Section
International People's College
Section
International People's College
Axo