Varde Theater and Music House

The design for Varde's new Theater and Music House forms a unifying framework for the city's active cultural life, as a compact volume with a refined exterior shaped so that it adapts to the contours of the surrounding urban space. The southeastern corner of the volume is thus pulled down to the height of the eaves of the former blacksmith's workshop in order to create a respectful relationship with the existing, historical buildings on the eastern side of the house. At the same time, the roof design has been created to be able to adapt to the large industrial buildings behind it. From the square, there is free access to the lobby, which starts as a one storey room, but becomes three storeys high and reveals the theater hall's exposed facade, which ends with a large natural skylight that illuminates the entire interior space. From the triple-height room, a host of surprises are revealed in the form of the building's multiplicity of functions with dance halls, sewing rooms, theatre, music and costume storage. The costume warehouse is staged as a gallery on the 2nd floor directly visible from the lobby.

The building is located in the cultural area around the former steel mill and wire spinning mill in Varde, which today houses a large number of activities constituting a diversity of cultural facilities. Together, they create a unique meeting place for children, young people and adults in the local community. The new music and theater house will create a clear hierarchy by occupying the largest and most important position in the immediate area. At the same time, it is an opportunity to simplify the urban space and make it more manageable by avoiding distributing even more functions around the area.

The interior and exterior material choices have been selected to create a clear contrast. While the external form and materiality are of a more formal nature, the front, internal part of the house gives off a warm, cozy atmosphere because of the exposed glulam constructions and surfaces in a natural, warm tone. Contrast as a dramaturgy and architectural tool can also be read in the large difference in scale between the large open and formal lobby as a counterpart to the low-ceiling rooms found in the cafe, the bars, the sewing room and the actors' lounge on the 1st floor.

Having everything gathered under one roof provides a lot of opportunities to strengthen the productive spirit and support the strong cultural scene in Varde Municipality. We imagine that Varde theater and music house will become an actively producing part of the local community, capable of hosting countless events of all kinds. All this can be provided via a flexible design, which is both functionally adaptive through a number of different types of spaces and in addition has a flexible facade that can be opened up on several sides in order to be able to invite users inside.