Encouraging creativity and active learning in schools
Challenge
LBS Kreativa Gymnasiet is an academy-style secondary school that opened its doors in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2014. LBS stands for Ljud och Bildskolan – Audio and Visual School – and the Gothenburg school is one of 16 schools around Sweden to focus on education in the creative arts, media, game development and music production. There was a great deal of interest in the school from the start and it grew rapidly. When the school moved to new larger premises, AJ Products delivered a complete interior solution. One requirement was that the school furniture should follow LBS’s creative model and encourage creativity, joy, ideas, active rest and productivity.
Solution
Each floor has its own colour theme and well-planned common rooms. Sound-absorbing furniture and plenty of textiles provide a good soundscape that helps students to concentrate. There are balance chairs for active sitting in several rooms to encourage movement even when sitting down. Two classrooms are furnished as Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs), a new kind of learning environment that promotes collaborative learning. In these classrooms, the students are at the centre of their learning experience and work together in groups around round tables accompanied by whiteboards and television screens to aid their studies.
Result
The result is that creativity, well-being, educational gains and long-term thinking characterise the school’s new premises, giving the students a supportive learning environment that encourages independence. "The students think it is amazing and thrive here. The staff enjoy their workplace and everyone who visits is saying "Wow, what a school!". The premises invite both activity and peace and quiet", says Charlotte Cederström, assistant headteacher at the school. Charlotte is very pleased with the support received from AJ Products. "It has been working very well. AJ always get back to us with great thoughts and ideas. The sales staff are very knowledgeable and have been really good at developing solutions that suit us."
