RebildPorten Rebild, Denmark
RebildPorten is a hybrid of a village hall, a tourist office, and a visitor centre that establishes a new gateway to the unique protected landscape of the Rebild Hills and Rold Forest in northern Denmark. It acts as a gathering place for the local community, an exhibition space, and a place to get information for the many visitors before they set out on trips in the nature reserves.
The design originates from the ideal scenario of building in the heart of nature that RebildPorten is to communicate. Since the rolling landscapes are protected, this was not a viable option. Instead, we bring nature into the building by mimicking the forest's forms and elements.
The sculptural structure of bluff timber from local forests gradually opens to visitors through the transparent facade – like the way a forest opens and closes as you move through it, looking up through the branches’ complex network of intersecting lines. By shaping the building out of raw-cut timber, the visitor not only experiences a "walk in the forest" but also the scent of wood and nature, which sets the mood for hikes in the area. The building is organised into three parallel bands that gradually converge towards the back: a public, roofed outdoor space at the entrance, a large semi-public exhibition space in the middle, and smaller, enclosed spaces for administration, etc., at the back.
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