Danish Crown HQ Randers, Denmark
The Danish Crown headquarters building and landscape design draw on historic Danish farm buildings and agricultural village communities. Together, they form a work and innovation environment that spans the company’s 130-year history, from its roots in the cooperative movement to the high-tech company it is today. The design supports a network- and activity-based work environment that centres on employees' physical and mental health, as well as their social and professional well-being.
Modelled on farm and village communities
Our design uses the typical Danish farm building with its solid brickwork, hipped roof, and high ridge to create a distinct signature for the headquarters. Three wing buildings are pushed together on one side to frame the main entrance and fan out to the north towards to open landscape. The wings are offset to one another so that they gather around a central inner hub, like the farm’s courtyard or the community green in nucleated villages.
This large pivotal space serves as the building’s vibrant heart with centrally located common facilities such as canteen, showroom kitchen, and employee flagship butcher store. It also links the building vertically via open bridges and staircases. They create a figure-eight flow that connects the three wings and four storeys. The offset arrangement of the rectangular volumes around a vibrant atrium creates a diverse and flexible spatial landscape. Well-defined areas for the companies’ departments in each wing are combined with a diverse setting of different spatial qualities and work zones. These include private meeting rooms, single and group workstations, coffee spots, and social meeting zones.
Designing a healthy work environment
The building’s exposure to sunlight is reduced by a narrow south-facing facade, where exposure is highest, while the wings unfold towards the north, where exposure is lowest during the day. This reduces the building’s heat impact while optimising daylight conditions and the opportunity to enjoy the northern view of the landscape, with Randers centre in the background, when working at your office desks.
Alongside the DGNB Gold certification, the construction achieved the additional Heart rating, which promotes health and well-being based on performance in air quality, acoustics, visual comfort, thermal comfort, and architectural value.
Several elements from the demolition and construction process have been recycled for the new construction. For instance, 8,000 tons of crushed concrete from the former buildings on the site have been reused. Moreover, the existing underground water reservoir has been reused as a sprinkler tank. Biodiversity is supported by selected overgrown areas and habitats where rainwater is collected and drained off as well as the surplus soil has been used to create a series of soft landscape hills in the area. In addition, the facade is constructed with specially developed bricks. With over 225,000 bricks, a CO2 saving of around 110,000 kg has been achieved from using biogas and wind power.
Inside and outside blend together in the headquarters spaces. The new domicile is connected to the old one using an existing greenhouse and constitutes a fourth wing. The west wing of the new building is placed parallel to the existing building and is connected by the Greenhouse.
A system of pathways leads through the landscape as scenic and eventful routes that combine recreational qualities, nature experiences, and attractive destinations along the way. Hence, the Danish Crown headquarters motivates employees to move around inside and outside the building, meet for an informal walk-and-talk, go for a run, and engage in various communal activitiesin facilities such as the community greenhouse and garden.
