The interior design of the Klim-Op Zandbergen school was named the best interior project in the education category at the World Architecture Festival. The school’s interior was planned and designed by Rosan Bosch Studio. The World Architecture Festival is the world’s largest international, live-judged architectural awards program.
Interior Architect, Gaëlle Moens, presented the project at the World Architecture Festival and received the award on behalf of the team at Rosan Bosch Studio from Nigel Coates, Director of the World Festival of Interiors. Photo by Camilla Garzon.
Klim-Op Zandbergen is a new public primary school in Belgium that opened in 2024.
As lead educational architects and interior designers, Rosan Bosch Studio developed a holistic and playful design concept for the school, from kindergarten through the primary years.
Zandbergen is a small village in the Belgian countryside, surrounded by beautiful natural scenery. The village and local landscape are reflected in the architecture and design, giving the school an identity rooted in the local context. This offers students a strong sense of belonging.
The interior design features a natural, diverse, and calming look and feel that provides sensory experiences, promotes well-being, and fosters a connection with nature. Sensory experiences in schools have a direct impact on attention, memory, mood, and behavior. They have real, measurable cognitive and learning effects.
The school's pedagogical vision is embedded in its design, supporting the development of 21st-century skills, including creativity, collaboration, and communication. A differentiated learning landscape with engaging zones and inspiring spaces reflects the school’s core values of innovation, intrinsic motivation, involvement, and positive critical thinking.
The learning spaces encourage movement and inspiration, bringing a strong reading culture to life in an environment where the learner is at the center of the learning journey, and encouraging each student to ask, “Where can I learn best?”
In collaboration with B2Ai (building), VK (engineering), ORO (landscape), and Alheembouw (contractor), the project was developed as a full master plan, in which architecture, interiors, and landscape were conceived with a holistic approach so that the entire environment, inside and out, supports and extends the learning experience.
Klim-Op Zandbergen is part of Scholengroep 20 and the Flemish public organization GO! Onderwijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, offering education for both kindergarten and primary school levels. This is the second school designed by Rosan Bosch Studio for the organization. The first was GO! Campus Zottegem.
The Garzón School, also designed by Rosan Bosch Studio, was shortlisted at the World Architecture Festival in the category for Completed Buildings – School.
Learn more about the World Architecture Festival here.