To celebrate this special anniversary, the LIAG team is exploring remarkable projects from their past. One project that immediately captured Mari-Lynn Kieviet's imagination is Niekée in Roermond — a vocational school that radically reimagines traditional concepts of both education and architecture. As school leader and educational visionary Sjef Drummen passionately describes it: "We must create 'palaces of wonder' that make students exclaim: Wow, is this where I get to learn?"
Mari-Lynn reflects: "This is the high school I wish I had attended. From the moment you enter Niekée, you realize this is no ordinary educational space. Imagine vibrant colors, suspended multi-functional boxes in the central hall, and unexpected glimpses into ground-floor workshops. Traditional classrooms? Completely absent. Instead, this is a space designed to spark curiosity and fuel creativity. It invites exploration and offers both students and teachers an unprecedented sense of freedom. This is exactly what a vocational school should aspire to be."
"What truly excites me about this project is the incredible design courage," Mari-Lynn continues. "It's about expertly playing with shapes, materials, and colors to create a learning environment that speaks directly to vocational students' experiences. Where else would you find a climbing wall right in the central hall?" Niekée is a genuinely transformative project that has more than proven its innovative approach. The awards speak for themselves: In 2008, it was crowned the best school building in the Netherlands, and just a year later, the World Architecture News Award recognized it as one of the 27 most extraordinary educational buildings globally.
