School

Furnishing for the Waldorf School in Brixen 

 

Project Location: Brixen, Italy
Client: Association for the Promotion of Waldorf Education Brixen
Area wall rail: > 350 m
Scope: Furnishing of the entire school building 

The furnishing of the Waldorf School in Brixen is the founding project of Variand, where the original idea for the modular wallsystem originated many years ago.

In 2017, three of the Variand founders, as architecture students at the time, faced the challenge of developing and implementing a furnishing concept for the small school in South Tyrol. 

The requirement: a lot of wood and as flexible as possible, so that the rooms can be used for various purposes.A few weeks and many night shifts in the workshop later the idea of a wallsystem as a support for flexible shelves, coat racks, boards, and more emerged. 

In parallel to their further studies the three began implementing the project. The planning was refined, sponsors for the project's financing were found, and finally, in collaboration with local businesses, the teaching staff, and a lot of personal effort the setup was completed and finished in early 2019.

With the furniture that was then still almost entirely made of wood, seven classrooms, the cloakroom, offices, the teachers' lounge, all hallways, and a small guest apartment were furnished.
In addition to design elements, such as decorative shelves and picture raillarger case furniture for storage, small tables and boards were also implemented with the Variand-system.
Additionally, all built-in furniture, student desks, and a wayfinding system were designed and implemented by the team in one go.

The creative design of the learning environment and the vibrant use of the space is particularly valued in Waldorf schools, where the concept of the active classroom plays an important role.
The developed furnishing concept is based precisely on this idea and aims to encourage students and teachers to continually redesign their learning spaces through the flexible and creative usability of the furnishings, thereby giving the rooms personality, individuality, and livability.

The comprehensive concept was implemented from the very beginning in close consultation with teachers and students and was very well received accordingly.
Even after 5 years of intensive use, only a few of the elements needed to be replaced.
The enthusiasm for the furnishings is still palpable among users and is reflected in a multitude of repeat orders and a collaborative further development of the concept.