Sensory and calming school architecture improving well-being for students and staff

Heerup School was rebuilt 2021–2024 as a sensory‑adapted, inclusive school (1,610 m² building, 4,100 m² outdoor). Calming materials, simplified layouts and new furniture cut physical disputes and staff sick days by 50% and student isolation by 30%.

Heerup School is a public educational institution in Copenhagen for children with developmental and physical disabilities. In 2021, the school and the architecture studio MATTERS used the opportunity of renovation and expansion to add many accessibility and inclusion features, like creating flexible, calming, and purpose-built spaces, supporting both students and staff. In 2025, a year after opening, significant improvements in the school climate were achieved, as measured by a decrease in physical confrontations and by the number of teacher sick days.

Problems Targeted

Historic school buildings are rarely suitable for children with complex disabilities, causing stress, conflict, and staff turnover.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Between 2021 and 2024 the existing Frederiksgård School in Vanløse, which was built in 1949, was transformed into an inclusive, sensory-adapted environment, with a structural extension being added to the building. MATTERS, an architecture and design studio based in Copenhagen, led the project, organizing also the collaboration with educators and specialists. The old building’s long corridors and uniform classrooms were redesigned to create flexible, calming, and functional spaces. All building layouts were simplified to improve clarity and predictability. Uniform materials with low visual stimuli and muted colours were used, as were efforts to reduce noise levels. The new floor plans provide space for both privacy and casual encounters. Furniture was newly designed and produced to add to the calming and relaxing atmosphere. Quality reporting is submitted annually, and municipalities collect and report data on student well-being. Within a year of moving into the new premises disputes that turned physical fell by 50 percent, as did the sick days of teachers and staff. Student isolation was reduced by 30 per cent.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The municipality of Copenhagen covered the costs of transforming the existing Frederiksgård School into the new Heerup School (€11 million) and of building its new extension (€5.5 million). The new school has become a model for other school and education experts, also attracting international visitors. Systematic documentation makes the model easy to replicate. (#ZeroCall26)

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