A unifying landmark for the entire town and the local community

We have devised an architecture for the cultural centre that unifies and supports the numerous communities, offering spatial and structural flexibility that can be adapted to daily activities, seasonal changes and future demands, whichever shape they may take. At the heart of the town of Hornslet, we will build a timber building without a back – an open and inviting place for locals to meet, accessible from three sides and hugged by its landmark multifunctional façade screen. The vast overhang of the façade screen will provide shelter for outdoor activities. Inside, the centre will provide sensuous and robust settings for community building and creative activity. A central wooden stair, called the king's oak, forms the backbone around which the functions are organised as small areas between the timber columns – like in a forest. Some functions have dedicated spaces, whereas other spaces are flexible and created by staff and users, e.g., by drawing woollen curtains to subdivide into spaces or using multi-purpose furniture made of recycled wood.

The architectural concept of the cultural centre is simple and future-proof. We will transform the existing cinema complex and add a new timber extension. Materials from the other buildings on the plot are reused in the interior, e.g., in the shape of a brick rotunda featuring a fireplace and a tap. The load-bearing timber columns secure a highly adaptable open-plan solution. All these elements are enveloped by the translucent façade screen, which protects the façade and the nearby outdoor spaces and, together with strategically located skylights, allows rich daylight to flow into the heart of the cultural centre. Here, a library, cultural facility, café, cultural hall, cinema, gallery etc. are organised around a central square, with areas overlapping, such as a workshop square that couples the library and the cultural facility and encourages children and young people to work creatively in several media.

Integrating design choices supporting sustainability in the broadest sense into the building geometry, the choice of materials and the technical solutions has been a key element. Among other things, we recycle materials from the existing buildings, thereby reducing the climate impact and infusing both history and identity. The multifunctional facade screen is another example of this; it provides shelter while fostering social life in the town, being a buffer zone between outdoor and indoor life. It also protects the building envelope, contributes to the natural ventilation, and affords a straight-forward and clear identity to the cultural centre that ensures a unifying architectural expression, inspired by the woodland sceneries and past timber industry of Hornslet. In this way, we not only build a new cultural centre; we add to the next chapter in the story of Hornslet.