Project in Detail
Performers House
Silkeborg, Denmark
schmidt hammer lassen architects, Aarhus C, Denmark
2008
Joachim Ladefoged
Performers’ House
Performers’ House is a modern interpretation of a Danish folk high school. With its exceptional scope and a unique cross-cultural international environment, the school offers ideal opportunities to develop young creative talent. Spacious performance areas, teaching rooms, a canteen, café, student accommodation as well as housing for teaching staff combine to create optimal learning conditions for performance art students.
Performers’ House is situated at the heart of the Paper Mill’s revitalized industrial area in Silkeborg, Denmark. The old Boiler Building has been redeveloped as a winter garden, teaching room and performance area, while an adjacent plaza links the historic building with its modern counterpart. This area can divided into small, intimate, urban spaces, the idea being to create a thriving urban space, allowing in¬teraction between the school and its urban surroundings.
The architectural style and choice of materials are simple and bold. The new building’s facade of raw corten-steel was a deliberate choice to create a simplified building volume expressing the area’s industrial heritage. A simple, strong gesture, the rusted surface is a specific reference to the industrial history of the area. A simple and strong - in time burning red - sculpture which imitates the tradition in an ultra-modern way. In this way the building fits into the existing context and its history. Interior cabling and ventilation ducts are left visible as part of the rigorously functional and rough interior treatment.
Transverse sightlines extend horizontally across the building and vertically up through the floors. The demarcation lines, between interior and exterior and between the individual elements in the academy organism, are continually being redrawn. On the ground floor, internal folding walls and red curtains can be opened and closed, provide endless potential for varying interiors. The façade is equally versatile: shutters on the main stage fold back and can slide to one side, while the large glass sections can be opened up, making it possible for passers-by to hear music or catch a glimpse of theatrical performances.
Performers’ House is a folk high school with a physical form as dynamic as the life pulsating within it.
Lead Architect »
schmidt hammer lassen architects
Aarhus C
Denmark
Professional Credits »
Architect
Mr Bjarne Hammer
schmidt hammer lassen architects
Denmark
+45 86201900
bh@shl.dk
Architect
Mr Leif Hovvej
schmidt hammer lassen architects
Denmark
+4586201900
lh@shl.dk
Client / Developer
Performers House
Denmark
Landscape Architect
schmidt hammer lassen architects
Denmark
Structural Engineer
DAI Gruppen
Denmark