Skamlingsbanken Visitor Centre Sjølund, Denmark
The natural resort Skamlingsbanken served as a historic stage for advocates of the Danish language, frontrunners of the feminist movement, and celebrations of the end of WWII. Embedded in the rolling terrain, the visitor centre becomes part of the landscape and serves as a gateway to exploring nature. Reinforced through architecture, nature remains the main attraction, supported by the team’s considerable expansion of protected nature.
A space in the landscape
The Skamlingsbanken landscape was formed during the last ice age and offers rich, varied nature, characterised by rolling hills and large meadows.Moreover, the site is located at the highest point with spectacular views over the Little Belt Strait.As such, the scenic context has been the main inspiration for the design of the visitor centre. By elevating the terrain along two circular cuts, the exhibition space becomes a subtle insertion in the landscape in the form of a softly curved hill.
When visitors enter the exhibition space, they experience moving through the hill and its many hidden stories. The corrugated back wall is plastered with clay, and the rest of the interior is characterised by local materials such as wood and terrazzo with fieldstones, combined with calm, earthy colour tones. Through its adaptation to the sloping site, the building frames a spectacular and unobstructed view across the entire area to the waters of the Little Belt, making the natural area an active part of the exhibition.
The building is seamlessly incorporated into the area’s network of paths, allowing a series of experiences and destinations to unfold along a varied route through the hills. The visitor centre serves as a natural starting point for visiting the exhibition, café, and starting your hike.
Casting on-site
The underground building requires a structural solution capable of withstanding significant soil pressure and moisture, for which in-situ concrete proved well-suited. Casting the concrete on-site offered a high level of craftsmanship precision for maximising spans and enabled work with tints and tactility in the architectural design.
The structural columns are pigmented with a subtle brownish glow to emphasise the feeling of being underground, and the concrete floor is a kind of terrazzo incorporating local fieldstones. For the exterior walls, the concrete is cast with round bars, resulting in a gentle wave-like pattern. A retardant is applied to the formwork, after which the outermost layer is washed away. This technique reveals the aggregate as small emerging stones, reflecting the surrounding nature in the building.
Preserves and develops local nature
The new visitor centre has been built in a protected area, and the biological values have been important focal points in the project. In close collaboration with the clients, foundations, landowners and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, the project team succeeded in expanding the protected area around the visitor centre from 35 to 128hectares.
As Skamlingsbanken consists of an old grazing landscape,several native species are rare. During the development of the visitor centre, it has been crucial to protect the site’s flora and fauna. In collaboration with a biologist from Kolding Municipality, a special grass mixture based on local species was developed and spread on and around the building. The mixture provides optimal conditions for the local herbs, and together with the reuse of natural peat from the building site, the project supports the continued development of the unique local nature and biodiversity.
The project was realised with a donation from the Danish AP Møller Fonden.
