Cultural buildings are the cornerstones of a vibrant and enriching community, both generally and at local level. They foster social interaction, strengthen cultural heritage, support artistic development and promote education. When a cultural building succeeds, it provides a great experience for users, where culture is communicated in a welcoming and informative setting. The architecture helps to convey the central narrative and ensures a great experience.

We want to preserve our cultural heritage, stimulate creativity and promote artistic development – something we always aim for when we create cultural architecture. The buildings and places that embody culture become active social meeting places that can help attract tourists, contribute to economic growth and promote learning and education. That is why we believe that cultural projects are important in maintaining a rich and diverse cultural life.

Arkitema Det kgl bibliotek Aarhus Photo Niels Nygaard 09 web
Our focus is always on adapting the space to the purpose with a holistic approach.
Arkitema Frederiks VII Is Palæ 4 web

New builds, transformation and renovation

Cultural buildings are a large and important part of Scandinavian societies. That is why there is also a long tradition of cultural buildings and places where culture is communicated. Above all, a cultural building must be of high architectural quality appropriate to the communication it supports and to its surroundings. So, there will also be many different possible solutions, and we always look at what will give the best result. This enables many differentiated approaches to building projects, which could mean designing a new cultural centre, remodelling a library or transformation from a warehouse building to an exhibition centre like The Kings’ Lapidarium in Copenhagen.

We have extensive experience of incorporating the many facets and opportunities, tasks and requirements into a conceptually clear, coherent and robust master plan. Our ambition is always to address the vision, goals, design criteria and requirements for the project, to realise the full potential of a cohesive solution where all of the individual elements, both tangible and intangible, blend into a powerful overall experience.

Arkitema Sdr Asmindrup Kirke 07 Photo Jens Lindhe

Teamwork for the best results

Needless to say, whenever we take on a cultural architecture project, we make use of our classical architectural and landscaping expertise, but we always work across disciplines to create innovative architecture for museums and cultural and educational institutions in the context of the local environment they belong to. The team we put together will always possess all of the necessary skills, and will offer broad horizons, extensive experience of similar assignments and a unique collaborative spirit. This produces results that are not just a framework for culture but play an active part in communicating it.

We are aware that we do not have all of the knowledge needed to communicate the culture within a given project, which is why we always start by building a close and trusting partnership with the client and all of the stakeholders involved in the project. This helps us to establish an architectural narrative that puts culture at the centre and conveys the story to the users in the best possible way.

Examples of cultural buildings we work on:

Arkitema Hammershus Photo05 Photographer Jens Lindhe web