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Architects: ERIK arkitekter
- Area: 8360 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Meike Rehder
Text description provided by the architects. The modernist building has been fully renovated and retains many of its original qualities. ERIK arkitekter has restored the town hall based on its key architectural ideas while futureproofing it with contemporary workspaces. Lyngby Town Hall, designed by the now passed-away architects Hans Erling Langkilde and Ib Martin Jensen, joins the ranks of Scandinavian functionalist town halls from the mid-20th century — think, for instance, of Aarhus City Hall by Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller or Gunnar Asplund's Gothenburg Town Hall. The building was originally inaugurated in 1941.
The defining feature of Lyngby Town Hall is its curved façade clad in Greenlandic marble. The façade subtly stands out in the urban landscape, forming a striking backdrop for Lyngby Square, which was developed simultaneously with the town hall. During the marble restoration process, ERIK architects analyzed the condition, expected lifespan, and strength of the stones to reuse as many as possible. Some stones have partly been replaced with American marble, chosen for its similar tones to the original Greenlandic marble, which is no longer available. Since the building was not listed until relatively late (2014), it has undergone many internal modifications over time that contradicted its architectural principles. Our architectural approach was to declutter and recreate the original aesthetic in a way that integrates new arrangements and functional requirements within the building's foundational conservation principles.
On the ground floor, the restoration has returned the space to its former state, allowing the building's stucco-marble columns to be fully visible once again. Marbleizing is typically associated with baroque and neoclassical churches and palaces. There are a few examples in modernist buildings, though few remain. Experiencing the columns' tactile surfaces in the new citizen service area transforms waiting time into a sensory experience. Due to the late listing, there is very little technical literature on the building. Consequently, we relied exclusively on original drawings from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts archives and the Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, as well as old photos and original descriptions, which proved invaluable. The curved corridors that horizontally connect the building are one of the most important spatial elements architecturally but were obscured for many years by non-original partitions, lights, and mismatched office furniture. Today, the corridors are open, just as they were when the building was originally inaugurated.
For the lighting, we relied on photos taken over time. Lighting designer Okholm Lightning demonstrated great skill by recreating the teardrop-shaped glass shades that emphasize the curved shape of the corridors, lending the otherwise somewhat massive building a dynamic quality. In the stairwell, the original designers used a simple approach of rotating the lampshade 180 degrees, instantly giving the same fixture a completely different ambiance. Many original doors have been preserved and modified to meet modern fire safety standards, with a fire strategy developed for the building. The combination of original and new architectural elements in the renovated building, tells the story of a unique modernist building that has rediscovered itself.
