Unsere Laborschule - Energiebündelschule

Our laboratory school  - the energy bundle school

Flötotto and the school of the future — the Energiebündel School

Flötotto is taking a step that is unusual in the German school construction and education landscape: we are no longer just manufacturers of school furniture — we are becoming part of everyday school life ourselves. With the founding of the Energiebündel School, we have created a place where educational vision, product development and practical school experience come together. The Energiebündel School was officially opened on 26 August 2025, and just two days later — on 28 August 2025 — the first 18 children started their first day at school.

Why our own school? Our practical commitment to education

For Flötotto, the school is not just a project alongside our products — it is part of our corporate identity. The Energiebündelschule is a conscious statement: we don't just want to design the exterior of the school (with furniture, rooms and equipment), we want to truly understand it - to understand its processes, help shape them and improve them in the long term. In their day-to-day work on site, our team and employees are actively involved in school life; learning from practical experience is a central element of this commitment.

The educational heart: the PRRITTI educational model 

The Energiebündelschule works according to the PRRITTI educational model — an approach focused on participation, creative freedom and process-oriented learning. PRRITTI understands learning as an artistic-compositional process and changes the meaning system of school work: away from pure information transfer, towards experience-based, exploratory and participatory learning. Typical guiding principles of the model include:

• Experience before information: Learning begins with personal experience, discovery and experimentation.
• Process instead of results: The learning journey becomes more important than the selective evaluation of a result.
• Learning as active design: Children are designers of their own learning journey, not passive recipients.
• Interdisciplinary networking: Complex interrelationships are preserved — separation into rigid subjects is relativised.
• Participation and equality: Learners are perceived as experts in their own learning biography.

The PRRITTI model is open-ended and adapts its structures to real needs — it promotes self-determination, creative processes and the ability to participate in shaping the learning process.

How PRRITTI is put into practice at the Energiebündel School

At the Energiebündel School, PRRITTI is not only taught in theory — it is put into practice. Learning guides and school administrators work with artistic and project-oriented methods (‘educational art’) that focus on the art of relationships, the art of participation and the art of communication. Learning spaces are deliberately designed to allow for experimentation, research and collaborative work; the daily structure, room concepts and working methods are geared towards enabling each child to follow their own individual learning path.

Project – Willow teepee – Fire pit

Together with Frederik Flötotto and the students, a willow teepee and a fire pit were built in the school garden. Everyone pitched in – hauling, laughing, building and digging. The result: a new favourite place to play, dream and tell stories.

The school as a laboratory: product development, concept validation and close exchange

For Flötotto, the energetic environment of a school represents a dual opportunity: firstly, it provides a real-world setting in which to test new concepts – both educational and spatial – in everyday use. Secondly, it is a testing ground where furniture, spatial solutions and furniture concepts can be tested and further developed under actual conditions of use before being launched on the market. This close coordination with the school management and the learning support team ensures that our products are not only convincing in terms of design, but also meet the educational requirements and specific processes in the school. The result is a continuous improvement process that mutually strengthens both the school and product development.

An outlook

We see schools as hubs of energy: places where ideas grow, products mature and educational concepts come to life. Flötotto remains a pioneer — convinced that excellent learning spaces are created through a combination of passion for design, professional expertise and direct dialogue with schools. For children, teachers and our society, this means spaces that spark curiosity, encourage participation and promote sustainable learning.

Significance and pioneering spirit

This project sends out a strong signal: a manufacturer that enables and helps shape its own school reality is driving forward the professionalisation of learning spaces. Flötotto sees itself as a catalyst — not only for aesthetically high-quality furnishings, but also for furnishings that make educational sense. Direct involvement in everyday school life provides insights that can be applied to the entire industry: from room acoustics and furniture ergonomics to flexible furniture systems that support genuine didactic options. The founding of the Energiebündel Schule is therefore more than a local project — it is an expression of a long-term commitment to better learning conditions and an invitation to partners, politicians and practitioners to boldly break new ground together.