The structure have been nominated to the Mies van der Rohe Award 2007 (for chief architect Jan Søndergaard it's the fifth nomination). Completed Feb 2007.
Images from KHR via 2+1 May 2008:
Fiberline Denmark - Building PR from KHR Feb07:
A hillside of fiberglass
Combined headquarters and production facilities built for Fiberline – Danish producer of fiberglass.
Fiberline building photo © Torben Eskerod from KHR 220207
Land Art
Like so many conventional production facilities, the building runs along a major highway. But instead of being a typical production-box randomly dropped into the landscape, the building is conceived as an artificial hillside laid out in careful interaction with the surroundings. The building as such, is a piece of Land Art that grows out of the landscape and points its curved backside at the sky above.
Fiberline building photo © Torben Eskerod from KHR 220207
Three skylight-bands
The hillside building is cut through by three stripes of light. Running across the length of the building, these three skylight-bands supply the interior with a great measure of natural light. The bands run from east to west and towards the highway each band is elongated from the main building into three glass oriels housing the meeting facilities.
Fiberline building photo © Torben Eskerod from KHR 220207
One big room for all purposes
The building itself is thought of as one big room wherein all activities take place. In practice, this means that production is carried out on the ground level and the administration areas are placed as structural floors protruding from the eastern façade. The administration area is physically dismantled from production by a huge wall of glass thus obtaining a subtle division that still allows room for the vision of ‘one big room for all purposes’.
Fiberline building photo © Torben Eskerod from KHR 220207
Fiberglass on the inside and the outside
As a finishing touch, the 330 metre long and 20 metre high eastern façade is clad in a translucent shell of fiberglass. Using Fiberglass as a building material in construction work of this scale is a pioneering experiment - and there is a deeper meaning behind the material choice. Fiberline produces fiberglass, and have produced the fiberglass coating for the building themselves. The result is an innovative building that projects identity by creating a synergy between production and the wrapping, between the work done inside the structure and the structure itself.
Architect, Jan Søndergaard
Chief architect and professor, Jan Søndergaard is Denmark’s ‘grand old man’ of corporate construction. He was the mastermind behind such prestigious and architecturally acclaimed buildings as Bang & Olufsen’s headquarters, and the Building Contractors, E. Pihl & Son’s domicile. Jan Søndergaard is also the architect behind the Danish Pavilion at Expo92 in Sevilla.
Fiberline Building - Summary:
Country: Denmark
City: Middelfart
Year: 2005-06
Client: Fiberline Composites A/S
Square metres: 23,000
Total cost: 150 million
Engineers: Strunge & Hartvigsen
Fiberline, Middelfart, Fyn, Denmark - Building PR from KHR 220207
Other key Middelfart Buildings:
Middlefart Savings Bank, Middlefart
2007-
3XN Architects
Middelfart building - architects : KHR
World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe
Other Building by KHR Architects, Denmark:
Copenhagen Airport
Danish Architecture
Comments or building suggestions / photos for the Fiberline Denmark page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk
Fiberline Denmark - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt