Vandhalla GB
Vandhalla
Intro
This large new building was built by Egmont Folk High School, a folk high school for disabled young people.
This large new building was built by Egmont Folk High School, a folk high school for disabled young people.
Since 1961, the Egmont Folk High School had wanted to add a swimming pool to their facilities.
Over the years, many preliminary drawings and grand plans were outlined, and three times specific drawings were actually produced. But each time the plans came to nothing due to financial constraints.
However, in 2004, the High School managed to attract the attention of a number of foundations, but four more years went by before financing proposals were finally in place in 2008. The school secured a government loan of DKK 16.4 million while the private philanthropic organisation Realdania promised to support the project with DKK 50 million, a sum that was later raised to DKK 60 million. The total construction costs (including equipment) amounted to DKK 135 million.
The project enjoyed support from several other foundations, and their work together with a huge effort on the part of the school’s governing body, staff, and a number of organisations have provided the Egmont Folk High School and the town of Hou with a magnificent building containing a swimming pool, a heated pool and, not least, a fully accessible water slide for wheelchair users: the first one – maybe not in Europe – but certainly in Denmark. Additional facilities include a multimedia and a fitness room. The new facilities totalling just over 5,000 m² were opened in 2013 with the distinctive name of Vandhalla.
The swimming pool project meant an accumulation of surplus soil. Since disposing of this would be a very costly affair, it was proposed, therefore, to use the extra soil to build a mound with a variety of functions including a sloped driveway for wheelchairs, an amphitheatre, and a perfect slope for tobogganing.