Refugee Museum of Denmark icon | Bjarke Ingels Group

Refugee Museum of Denmark

Oksbøl, Denmark

Client

Varde Museum

Typology

Culture

Size m2/ft2

2,123 / 22,852

Status

Completed

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — The hospital buildings of the refugee camp were connected by a covered outdoor walkway.

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — The 540 m2 of additional program would be most practically positioned at the end of both buildings, creating a new interior connection between the two.

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — Adapting the extension into an intersection of the two existing pitched roof buildings connects old and new architecturally. However, this would have provided too little area.

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — Pushing the intersection of the two buildings back towards the street provides both the desired size of the building, creates a sheltered, green courtyard at the center of the extension and a gently curved interior space connecting the existing buildings.

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — The extension is clad entirely in Corten steel, making a visual connection to the red bricks of the existing buildings, except for the façade towards the courtyard and park, where a floor to ceiling glass façade lets light and views into the museum.

Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group

 — The protruding shape of the extension marks the arrival from the street side, and opens up towards the park and surrounding forest on the other side.

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Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
"From the very beginning of the design process, it was vital for us and our client, Vardemuseerne to preserve the two hospital buildings. The buildings are some of the last remaining physical manifestations of the former refugee camp, and not only is their preservation invaluable for future generations to understand the past and the present, the buildings also directly informed our design of the extension by means of their unique elongated form, structure and materiality. FLUGT is a great example of how adaptive reuse can result in sustainable, functional buildings that preserve our shared history while standing out architecturally."
Frederik Lyng - Partner & Project Leader, BIG
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark gallery image | Bjarke Ingels Group
"The Refugee Museum of Denmark explores an important part of our history and a theme that is more relevant than ever, with millions of refugees currently displaced from their homes. We have designed an architectural framework that connects the past with the present - with a new building directly shaped by its relationship to the historic hospital buildings of the WWII refugee camp. We went into this project with all our heart to address one of the world’s greatest challenges - how we welcome and care for our fellow world citizens when they are forced to flee. The project is a continuation of our collaboration on Tirpitz Museum with Vardemuseerne and Claus Kjeld Jensen whose uncompromised design vision once again inspired our design for FLUGT."
Bjarke Ingels - Founder & Creative Director, BIG
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group
Refugee Museum of Denmark image | Bjarke Ingels Group

Partner in Charge

Bjarke Ingels

Ole Elkjær-Larsen

Finn Nørkjær

Project Leader

Frederik Lyng

Project Architect

Frederik Skou Jensen

Project Team

David Zahle

Marius Tromholt-Richter

Anders Holden Deleuran

Andy Coward

Danyu Zeng

Eddie Can

Hanne Halvorsen

Kim Lauer

Laura Wätte

Lone Fenger Albrechtsen

Lukas Molter

Mads Primdahl Rokkjær

Michael James Kepke

Nanna Gyldholm Møller

Nikolaos Romanos Tsokas

Oliver Siekierka

Peter Høgenhaven

Richard Howis

Sascha Leth Rasmussen

Sofiia Rokhmaniko

Thor Larsen-Lechuga

Tomas Karl Minör

Tore Banke

Tristan Harvey

Ákos Márk Horváth

Anne Søby Nielsen

Høgni Laksafoss

Cheng-Huang Lin

Gabrielė Ubarevičiūtė

Toni Mateu

Muhammad Mansoor Awais

Arthur Martinevski

BIG Landscape

Barbora Hrmova

Giulia Frittoli

Jonathan Udemezue

Katrine Sandstrøm

Kristian Mousten

Ulla Hornsyld

Awards

Danish Building of the Year Awards 2022

Luigi Micheletti Award 2023

Collaborators

INGENIØR'NE

Tinker Imagineers

Gade & Mortensen Akustik

HB Trapper

BIG Landscape

BIG Ideas