VISITOR CENTRES 099
This image and right Thy National Park visitor centre in Northern Jutland, Denmark, is built among the dunes, with an entrance that acts as a funnel to draw in tourists
Size: 700 sq m Architect: LOOP Client: Thy National Park Engineer: LB Consult Landscape: SLA
VISITOR CENTRES provide a multitude of necessary functions, often combining the roles of ticket office, gift shop, toilet facilities, café and interpretation information within a single multi-purpose building. In some cases, such as areas of natural beauty or wilderness, they need to be almost invisible, while for attractions in less sensitive areas the priority is to be eye- catching and unique – but in every case they are tasked with capturing something of the spirit of the venue.
Te Skamlingsbanken visitor centre in Kolding, Denmark, marks a place of historical significance, known throughout the country for the protests, public meetings and celebrations that took place there over the centuries. A new visitor centre was needed to provide a rest stop linking a multitude of footpaths and walking trails, and to raise awareness of the historical and cultural importance of the region. But its environmentally sensitive location, in a grazing area full of rolling hills and rare flora and fauna, meant that an intrusive building was out of the question.
Architect CEBRA won a competition to create a 500 sq m centre with facilities including a café, shop, exhibition space and teaching facilities, with a design buried under the ground and accessed by two circular cuts, causing so little disruption to the environment that cows continue to graze on its turfed roof. While the main structure was cast from concrete on site, a material chosen to regulate the temperature of the structure, internally it is filled with earthy colours and textural local materials, including wood and stone. Carsten Primdahl, partner and architect at CEBRA, described the design as ‘an architectural interpretation of the glacial landscape’, adding: ‘It is not a destination itself, but part of an overall narrative. Te building is a portal to the significant history and the local nature and forms a natural starting point for hikes in the area.’ It was completed last year and won the Kolding Municipality Architecture Award. Architect LOOP had some similarities of approach with its design for the visitor centre at Ty National Park in Northern Jutland,
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