Henning Larsen has revealed the first images of the Ørestad Church, the first church to be built in Copenhagen in the last 30 years. The modern monument is built in wood and wood shingle, reflecting Ørestad’s open natural landscape and embracing the identity of the local community. The intention was to create a serene space, detached from the bustle of the city, where the calmness and simplicity of interior spaces can offer residents solace from their everyday life. Construction is expected to start in 2024, and the church will be consecrated in 2026.
Stepping into the church, the connection to nature will ignite people’s spirituality. The chapel is bathed in light from above and opens up the view of the sky, drawing people’s gaze. The hall is the clearing in the forest, where the light is refracted in a variety of ways throughout the day and year. Building in wood and harnessing the power of the light was the obvious solution, for the climate, for the context, and for the community. - Jacob Kurek, Global Design Director, Henning Larsen.
The façade of the church has a rough character, and the natural materials are expected to change throughout the seasons and over time. The church is connected with its surroundings by a continuous brick floor, which creates a path from the city leading into the church. The building aims to become a meeting point for both the parish and the local community. To achieve this, the design of the church embeds modern concepts of social sustainability into its core, as community consultation has informed the types of programming the building will house.
Besides the large flexible church room, the building also accommodates a chapel, a shielded courtyard, a church office, and informal cultural spaces that can be used for communal eating, small concerts, yoga, dancing, or lectures. The variations in the church volume allowed the creation of niches and urban shelves that can be used for seating, book exchanges, or chess tables. The church also features a protected garden reminiscent of the monastic cloister gardens.
The solution represents the winning proposal of a competition and it was developed by Henning Larsen in collaboration with Platant and Ramboll. Henning Larsen has also recently revealed a Nordic-inspired pavilion at the 3daysofdesign event in Copenhagen and a new hybrid timber building that will house a new business school in Reims, France.
