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Name
Saint Nicolai Culture Centre, Denmark
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Type
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Client
Municipality of Kolding & LOA Foundation
A unique testimony to the emergence and growth of a city, the Saint Nicolai Culture Centre consists of 5 former schools, all built in the years 1856 to 1908. Abandoned as a functional school in 1983, the five buildings were slowly decaying – until the municipality decided to establish nothing short of 5 cultural centres in one – revolving around the former school yard. With the use of corten steel – a material that rusts decoratively – the complex embraces the passing of time with a symbolic degree of decay.
Read more ↓The five houses include the Cinema House and Café, Heritage House, Children´s Culture House, Arts House and Music House. The main strategy for the conversion was conceived in collaboration with the landscape architect: Connect the five buildings, each of which are very different in material and volume, by using corten steel consistently throughout the project for all new additions.
As part of The Saint Nicolai Cultural Centre, the Children’s Culture House offers open, imaginative workshops and small-scale hideaways.
With spatial variations defined by colour, ceiling height and spatial elements, children may stumble upon “The Theatre Cave”, “The Cloud” and “The Jungle” - giving them the opportunity to move between different modes and moods, from silence to noise, from play to contemplation and from light to dark.
