Project Primary School De Verbinding

Gispen education project interior view of BS de Verbinding in Ureterp RZ02

‘Vernieuwbouwschool’ De Verbinding in Ureterp is, except for the foundation, a completely new primary school. A contemporary Child Centre – including childcare – has been built on the old location of the school. Gispen took care of the interior design and the complete furnishing of the primary school: from classrooms and modern learning areas to offices for administration and IB’er. From comfortable team room to representative management office where parents also feel welcome. We coordinated closely with the architect and worked from the educational vision of NoorderBasis.

Transparent spaces, flexible furniture

NoorderBasis includes thirty-three primary schools in the north of the Netherlands, including De Verbinding in Ureterp. 'Schools with the Bible', they proudly call themselves. Tiemen Oosterhoff is Director of Housing at NoorderBasis: 'We awarded Gispen the furnishing of the renovation school in Ureterp. We have already set up several schools together to our full satisfaction. I have known Educational Furnishing Specialist Klaas Geleynse for twenty-five years now, I can read and write with him.' What were the most important starting points for the design of the new school? Tiemen: 'We were looking for contemporary and flexible furniture, of course with a good price-quality ratio. We wanted to match the interior to the color palette of NoorderBasis. Each primary school has its own local colour, but the different schools form a recognisable whole. Furthermore, openness, transparency and sightlines are very important within our educational vision. The new building and the interior had to meet these requirements.'

Interior drawings and colour advice

Klaas Geleynse, Educational Design Specialist at Gispen: 'From the start, we were allowed to think along about the school's issues. How do we want to work? Which design concept fits in with the vision of education, the building and the population of the school? We have regularly coordinated with the architect: Klaas Klamer of Architectenburo Klamer. We also asked the end users, a delegation of staff, about their wishes. Our studio then provided an interior design: interior drawings and color advice. In close consultation with Tiemen and Klaas, we chose the specific products for each room.' Tiemen: 'You don't want to just choose something from a catalogue. We have really thought carefully together about how we want to shape education.'

Lifelong learning

The former primary school was a traditional corridor school. All education took place in the classrooms. The new school offers plenty of space for instruction and collaboration on learning squares. In addition, there are quiet rooms, especially for the upper grades. These can be used flexibly, so they can also be used by teaching assistants or students who are allowed to work alone for a while. Parents should also feel welcome in the school. The boardroom and team room are therefore deliberately positioned close to the entrance. In addition to large, flexible conference tables, the team room also offers space for relaxation.

The eye-catcher in the classrooms are the Gispen WIZZ chairs – versatile, ergonomic school chairs for lifelong learning (available in many sizes and colours). In addition, we supplied: Match Comfort PL06 student tables, fully plastic chairs, organically shaped instruction tables, workshop trolleys, Discovery tables, a playhouse, lounge and train benches and Gispen ZINN office chairs. The appearance of the rooms is calm: wood decors are interspersed with natural tones, many shades of green.

How do you like it?

Tiemen: 'We are very proud of the end result: the team, Klaas and me. Klaas was there when all the products were delivered, which is nice. The building has only been in use for a short time, but the reactions are positive. People think it has turned out beautifully. In addition, the acoustics, ventilation and cooling of the rooms are optimal. Teachers are happy with the new student sets and their uses. The new ways of teaching, everyone now has to grow together.'

Photography: Ronald Zijlstra photography

Klaas Geleynse, Educational Design Specialist at Gispen

Specialist speaking

'The chosen design concept fits in with the vision on education, the building and the population of De Verbinding. We have had plenty of consultation about this with both Tiemen, the architect and users of the school. We have already anticipated changes within education: the design is flexible and future-proof. The Gispen WIZZ chairs come into their own in the classrooms and in the learning squares. Once again, I look back on a very pleasant collaboration!'

'With Gispen, you know, this is going to be all right!'

Tiemen Oosterhoff Director of Housing at NoorderBasis

portrait of klantfoto bs de verbinding ureterp

Tiemen Oosterhoff, Director of Housing at NoorderBasis

Customer testimonial

'How do you want to shape your education? That is quite a process and you need good partners in it. With Gispen you know: this is going to be okay. A process like this stands or falls with the quality of the interior design specialist. I have been working very pleasantly with Klaas Geleynse for years. Klaas coordinates well with other parties involved. He takes care of everything from start to finish, is there when deliveries take place. I can sometimes be compelling in how we want it from NoorderBasis; Gispen handles this well. We are all very proud of the end result.'