July 12, 2023
Specialized and targeted
Specialized and targeted smaller, less manageable two-day conferences with exhibition opportunities and networking have become increasingly successful in recent years both in Denmark and abroad. One of these is the German Schulbau Salon & Messe, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and, as the name suggests, focuses on school construction, day care centers and schools in Germany.
The first Schulbau was in Hamburg in 2013 and has since been held annually in other major German cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Dresden. And now for the first time in Denmark in Copenhagen last month, which was a success, which is why the next Schulbau will also be held in Copenhagen.
Byggeeksport met the woman behind Schulbau, owner and CEO Kir- sten Jung, who also owns Cubus Medien Verlag GmbH (publisher of Schulbau magazine) and the recently founded Danish company Salooning Green Future Group Aps, which also deals with school construction. Among other things, she explains the choice of German cities.
– They are all located in different states because school construction is not controlled from Berlin but differs in each state.
About the development of Schulbau, Kirsten Jung explains that the idea for Schulbau came via German media, which wrote that Hamburg would invest two billion euros in school construction. Having three schoolchildren herself, she has had bad experiences with schools and wanted to help make them better.
Schulbau was developed from the heart, says Kirsten Jung. With no experience of trade fair conferences, but with a good network and close relationships since the start with a number of German and Danish partners, including Bund Deutscher Architekten, Bundes- stiftung Baukultur, Montag Stiftung Jugend und Gesellschaft, DGNB, Building Green Council and the German school authorities. In Denmark, the Consulate General in Hamburg, Danish Architects and several Danish architectural firms including C.F. Møller.
Schulbau in Germany has attracted not only German manufacturers but also many
Danish manufacturers and a door opener to the German market for Airmaster, Troldtekt and Højer Møbler. But also German architects, school authorities and Danish architects such as C.F. Møller, COBE and Adept. Møller, COBE and Adept, as speakers and participants in debates on sustainability and the future of school construction
– I want to create an international think tank that can inspire the entire industry with new ideas. Here, the topic of sustainable learning buildings has a special focus for the Danish-German exchange of knowledge, ideas and resources. We can benefit from international cooperation, and with partnerships, we can pave the way for the school of the future, says Kirsten Jung.
Why Denmark.
Kirsten Jung, who also speaks Danish, moved to Copenhagen in 2022, but also lives in Hamburg. She says she chose Copenhagen because she also wanted to make Schulbau more international, and Copenhagen is very international. And many of the speakers she has had at Schulbau are also from the city, including KHR Arkitekter, who have several German projects. But Germans are also looking to Scandinavia for inspiration, especially about sustainable architecture, design, pedagogy and collaboration with Danish architects, no matter how big they are. But they emphasize that the best thing is a partnership. But in addition to participants from Germany and Denmark, there were also people from other countries in addition to the 200 from Germany at the first Schulbau in Copenhagen.
Private schools
There will be even more private schools, says Kirsten Jung, noting that the many refugees also create a need for more schools. As a result, the total budget for German school construction has increased from 40 billion to 100 billion euros
by the year 2040. That’s why Kirsten Jung urges Danish architects to act now.
– Germany needs many new schools and the Danes now have the opportunity. The country is lacking a lot of good architects with ideas – including smaller practices. And you don’t have to worry about not being able to speak German. Germans are also good at English.
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