A team led by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has been announced as winners of a competition to design the Vendsyssel Theatre and Experience Centre in Hjørring, Denmark. Once complete in 2016, the 4,200 square meter building will act as a new and vibrant cultural hub within the city.
When describing the project’s five main themes - integration in the city, openness, functionality, flexibility and materiality - Schmidt Hammer Lassen founding partner John Foldbjerg stated: “We have designed a significant building which relates to its function in a pragmatic way. It invites both active use and quiet breaks. It is a building which radiates its cultural meaning – it dares to be different, without stealing the focus from the existing qualities in the city.”
“The Theatre and Experience Centre consists of a complex of buildings – a city within the city. Its characteristic Corten steel façade, with its warm rusty red colors, corresponds well with the area’s existing plaster and brick façades; thereby creating an aesthetic whole between the city, the front plaza and the theatre building.”
Inside, boundaries between public and private spaces are blurred. A flexible open plan allows for many spaces to have dual use, while unique visual and physical connections are made throughout the building.
”The open plan ensures a high level of flexibility in the building, and only your imagination sets the limit for where and how the theatre productions can take place,” said Rasmus Kierkegaard, Associate Partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects. “Actors and staff are visible to the visitors in the building, and the building will appear vibrant even with only a few persons present.”
Architects
Arkitektfirmaet Finn Østergaard A/S, Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsFull-Service Consultant
Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsClient
Municipality of Hjørring, RealdaniaEngineer
Brix & Kamp A/S, ALECTIA A/SLandscape Architect
LIW Planning ApsOther Consultants
Gade & Mortensen Akustik A/S, AIX Arkitekter AB, Filippa Berglund, scenograf, arkitekt maaConstruction Sum
€16.5 million excl. VATArea
4200.0 sqmProject Year
2016Photographs
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsProject Year
2016Photographs
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsArea
4200.0 m2
