© Adam Mørk
In the flat landscape of Denmark’s west coast, the traditional form of construction of farms has been determined by the topography and the effects of the weather. For the most part, these structures are low-rise with a U-shaped layout or with internal courtyards shielded on four sides from the wind.
The Wadden Sea Centre in Ribe created in the 1990s, with its white slurried brick walls and a glazed entrance front, was regarded as a not particularly convincing reinterpretation of this building type. With the newly completed extension, the Dorte Mandrup office has preserved the existing building for the most part, yet visually effaced it almost entirely. Only the administration tract was left intact, and this now forms the new centre of the development.
The former east wing had to make place for a new structure. The western and northern sections of the complex were completely reshaped, and a free-standing linear block, containing two group spaces for school classes, was added at the southern end. The external cladding indicates which parts of the development have been refurbished and which are new. Existing roof areas and facades were clad with slender, grey-scumbled strips of robinia. The new sections of the complex were thatched from the plinth to the ridge of the roof with reeds from two nearby bays of the sea.
The Wadden Sea Centre in Ribe created in the 1990s, with its white slurried brick walls and a glazed entrance front, was regarded as a not particularly convincing reinterpretation of this building type. With the newly completed extension, the Dorte Mandrup office has preserved the existing building for the most part, yet visually effaced it almost entirely. Only the administration tract was left intact, and this now forms the new centre of the development.
The former east wing had to make place for a new structure. The western and northern sections of the complex were completely reshaped, and a free-standing linear block, containing two group spaces for school classes, was added at the southern end. The external cladding indicates which parts of the development have been refurbished and which are new. Existing roof areas and facades were clad with slender, grey-scumbled strips of robinia. The new sections of the complex were thatched from the plinth to the ridge of the roof with reeds from two nearby bays of the sea.