News
12.06.20
TOPPING-OUT CEREMONY AT DENMARK'S NEW NATIONAL LEARNING CENTER LIFE CAMPUS
With yesterday’s topping-out ceremony, the new national learning center LIFE Campus in Lyngby is one step closer to welcoming children and young people. However, due to the situation with Covid-19, it became a different ceremony, where only tradesmen and contractors were invited to the construction site celebration. Collaborators and LIFE employees were invited instead to participate online.
In a year’s time, Denmark’s children and young people will receive a whole new learning offer when the new LIFE Campus is completed in Lyngby. Yesterday, the team celebrated behind an atypical topping-out party because of the current assembly ban of up to 50 people, only tradesmen and contractors attended. Collaborators and LIFE employees were invited instead to participate online. Unfortunately, the livestreaming glitched, but the event was filmed.
“On behalf of all of us who will be moving out here – namely LIFE’s employees – I just want to say thank you! It’s simply huge to stand in here,” Christine Antorini, director of LIFE, said in her welcome speech, adding:
“We would have loved to be here with you, because it’s a joint party, and we are simply super proud of what has happened so far.”
Children and young people must be inspired by the natural sciences
LIFE Campus is one of the initiatives of LIFE to strengthen the interest in science in children and young people. The building was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects in collaboration with GHB Landscape and COWI and will be available to schools throughout the country. Here, children and young people will have the opportunity to work with the current and specific issues that also concern today’s scientists.
The architecture is inspired by STEM (Science / Technology / Engineering / Mathematics) and combines nature and science.
“The building must both inspire and respect as it is located in a natural area. That is why we have gone for a simple, Nordic style in natural materials with basic references to STEM. The facade’s expression comes from DNA strands, fibonacci sequences and other mathematical patterns. At the entrance, light wooden columns open as a curtain and help to integrate the building into the natural landscape,” says Thomas West Jensen, partner at Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects.
Extraordinarily many apprentices become affiliated with LIFE Campus
Two days before the topping-out ceremony, there was a kick off on a special apprentice learning project involved in the construction of the LIFE Campus. And there are an extraordinary number of them, as LIFE gives priority to contributing to young people’s education as part of the construction. This means that over 15,000 hours of work is done by tradesmen in training. The learning project must ensure that the apprentices get something extra out of the work.
“We are very happy that it has been possible to do an apprenticeship project, and the contractors have been good at saying that this is an educational project, so there are about 25 apprentices helping construction. This is an educational place, so of course it must also be an educational place for apprentices – because we need many talented skilled young people, ” says Christine Antorini, director of LIFE.
LIFE Campus is expected to open for classes in the fall of 2021.
LIFE is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
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Photo credit: LIFE
Rendering: Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects