Scandinavian architecture practice C.F. Møller recently completed a 280,000-square-foot building for the Copenhagen International School in the city’s Nordhaven district. The new structure accommodates more than 12,000 students and won the 2017 Iconic Award—an international award program for architecture and urban planning professionals—in the architecture category.
The project’s unique feature is its solar panel–covered façade. The firm used 12,000 solar panels—covering 65,100 square feet of the structure’s surface—to cover part of its façade and slightly rotated each panel to give the impression of glimmering jewels. Half of the school’s annual electricity consumption will be generated through these solar panels. According to the firm’s website, the school is “one of the largest building-integrated solar power plants in Denmark.” Read more about this project here.
Sustainability at CIS from Copenhagen International School on Vimeo.
“The building’s solar power will also be incorporated into the learning curriculum, with students offered a class in solar studies and the ability to monitor the campus’s energy production for use in maths and physics courses.” —Agustin Millan in Local dk
“Copenhagen International School’s new building in the Nordhavn district features the largest solar facade in the world…The unique sea-green hue of the panels was created by the research institute Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne (EPFL) after more than a decade of development. By using the process of light interference, the researchers achieved the tiles’ distinctive color without using any pigments and without reducing energy efficiency.” —Lorraine Chow in EcoWatch
“It means so much to me that the school is moving to a new campus that is committed to sustainability,” said Copenhagen International School director Jennifer Weyburn. “The kids can learn things about sustainable solutions for the future.” —Copenhagen International School
