IKH 2200

In 2003, Kollision teamed up with Hou & Partners, Wissenberg, and MT Højgård in a competition for a new sports and culture centre at Nørrebro financed by the Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities (LOA). It was LOA’s wish that the building could provide a framework for a number of informal sports activities, which would not require users to join a sports club or schedule their activities.

The site was placed in the courtyard behind the red square near Blågård square at inner Nørrebro in Copenhagen and the building had to match the surrounding buildings in height. The solution was to create a series of bands, each of which is bent, twisted, and constructed in a way that creates a partly buried building with a landscape on top. The goal was to preserve as much area of ​​the courtyard as possible to accommodate the residents but also modulate the surface so that light can penetrate down into the underground hall. The constructive principle allows daylight to penetrate the building and allows passers-by to look down into the building and the activities.

The different bands are treated differently so that they support varying needs. One band formed as a running track that provides passage over the house and through the yard, some bands are in concrete and folds down, creating ramps for goods delivery, while others are covered with wood and create small terraces around the building. From a plain courtyard with grass and shrubbery, the site is transformed into a patchwork of materials.