MY college

A team consisting of Christensen & Co. Architects (Denmark) and NEXT architects (The Netherlands) have created the winning proposal for the new educational building for MY college in Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. The new building is designed to ensure that students can explore their talents and skills whilst having a close connection to society.

 “The collaboration between Christensen & Co and our office NEXT architects fostered the creativity and energy of all stakeholders by marrying the knowledge and resources of both offices into a new successful vision and design for MY college.” – Marijn Schenk, Architect and partner, NEXT architects.   

Christensen & Co. Architects is a leading expert in designing sustainable schools and they have collaborated with NEXT architects who contributed on the contextual design approach. Besides showcasing the integration of energy neutrality and circularity to meet the highest sustainability standards, MY college is also designed as a stimulating and attractive learning environment.

A stimulating learning environment
“We’ve created a learning environment based on an architectural concept of No Dead Ends, which is ideal for student interaction. In the central Learning Loop we define various levels of focus, ensuring students can find spaces corresponding with their needs for concentration.” – Mikkel Hermann Sørensen, Architect and partner, Christensen & Co Architects.

To achieve this, the learning environment of MY college holds three overarching typologies for learning: MY BASE, comprising theory rooms and co-creating practice rooms for large groups, MY SQUARE providing learning plazas for student interaction and corridors to promote smaller interactions between students, and MY CAVE offering private study rooms and quiet places for the possibility of retreat. In the overall structure, the clear floor plan is essential for this project, it guides the students to the classrooms whilst giving the teachers an unimpeded overview of the building.

Adding extra to the close environment
On all sides, the building features a unifying layout by using the wooden lamellae, with no closed-off façades and a lot of space for daylight to penetrate in the building. My college adepts to its contextual site and program, whilst placing the gymnastics hall on the top volume creating a focal point in the urban landscape.

A team consisting of Christensen & Co. Architects (Denmark) and NEXT architects (The Netherlands) have created the winning proposal for the new educational building for MY college in Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. The new building is designed to ensure that students can explore their talents and skills whilst having a close connection to society.

 “The collaboration between Christensen & Co and our office NEXT architects fostered the creativity and energy of all stakeholders by marrying the knowledge and resources of both offices into a new successful vision and design for MY college.” – Marijn Schenk, Architect and partner, NEXT architects.   

Christensen & Co. Architects is a leading expert in designing sustainable schools and they have collaborated with NEXT architects who contributed on the contextual design approach. Besides showcasing the integration of energy neutrality and circularity to meet the highest sustainability standards, MY college is also designed as a stimulating and attractive learning environment.

A stimulating learning environment“We’ve created a learning environment based on an architectural concept of No Dead Ends, which is ideal for student interaction. In the central Learning Loop we define various levels of focus, ensuring students can find spaces corresponding with their needs for concentration.” – Mikkel Hermann Sørensen, Architect and partner, Christensen & Co Architects.

To achieve this, the learning environment of MY college holds three overarching typologies for learning: MY BASE, comprising theory rooms and co-creating practice rooms for large groups, MY SQUARE providing learning plazas for student interaction and corridors to promote smaller interactions between students, and MY CAVE offering private study rooms and quiet places for the possibility of retreat. In the overall structure, the clear floor plan is essential for this project, it guides the students to the classrooms whilst giving the teachers an unimpeded overview of the building.

Adding extra to the close environment
On all sides, the building features a unifying layout by using the wooden lamellae, with no closed-off façades and a lot of space for daylight to penetrate in the building. My college adepts to its contextual site and program, whilst placing the gymnastics hall on the top volume creating a focal point in the urban landscape.