What does Denmark’s largest school have in common with one of its largest power plants" Simply put, they are both the same building: the Copenhagen International School (CIS) in the capital’s Nordhavn district. Completed in 2017, the school sits on the docks by the Øresund, with piles of shipping containers, gantry cranes, and ships in full view. It is an odd place for a school comprised of 1,200 students and 280 employees, but when the surrounding community’s involvement in the institution is taken into account, the location takes on a new level of civic importance.

At the base of the school are the common areas, including a library, three gyms, a cafeteria, and facilities for the performing arts. When classes are not in session, those areas are made available to the general public. The rooftop over the common area is occupied by a playground, with a glass wall around the perimeter to keep the kids from falling. The school’s classrooms are subdivided into four towers, each one dedicated to a different academic level: early years, primary school, middle school, and high school. All in all, the building takes up 269,097 square feet. Designed by C.F. Møller, it’s contained within in a whimsical façade that doubles as a pedagogical instrument.
What qualifies CIS Nordhavn as a power plant is the presence of over 12,000 solar panels on its façade. Capable of producing 200 MWh per year, over half of the school?s electricity is generated ...