Overview
Providing a gateway into the lush forests of the Jutland highlands in Denmark, the Nøjkærhus Culture House comprises of two old forest guard buildings with two new buildings built around them to create a single, larger structure made up of four distinct spaces. They are known as the Main House, Glass House, Stable House and Log House.
The two new structures use glass walls to contrast heavily with the older wood and plaster buildings, but their design replicates the typical gable roofs to create a harmony between the two distinctive material palettes.
Structure
Comprised of glass and steel, the structure of the Glass and Log houses could seem very out of place between the rustic original buildings and within the extensive forests. However, while the Glass House has a highly modern look to it, its transparency serves the purpose of bringing the surrounding trees within the house, something that the highly solid original structures have a hard time doing through their thick white cladding.
While the Log House is constructed from the same glass and steel as the other new building, the storage that it provides for the Culture House's firewood organises the split logs in an extremely arresting way. The densely packed wood is stacked showing the ring ends from the ground up to the roof, which from a distance creates the illusion of solid wood or a board of cork.
Exterior
The exterior of the houses prioritises the transition from the Culture House into the forest, as it still functions as rest stop and coordination space for visitors to the forest. The new structures mimic the rustic lines of the original guards buildings, with highly peaked gables and very simple lines. The continuation of the roof shapes over the now connected buildings makes a jagged concertina that stands out starkly against the forest background.
