Grønttorvet

Common living room in the local park

Grønttorvet Community House showcases how overlooked and polluted materials from the previous industrial area can become fundamental aesthetic and narrative elements in a new structure. The community-focused and resource-conscious building bridges past and future and gathers the local community in an open and inviting structure for the whole neighborhood of Grønttorvet.

Location
Grønttorvet, Valby

Area
860 m2 community house, 200 m2 greenhouse

Typology
Community house

Collaborators
Ingcon A/S

Year
2016-2022

Status
Completed

Client
FB Gruppen A/S
Ingcon A/S

Services
Architectural consulting

The Community House is an example of a pragmatic and solution-oriented approach to direct reuse, including the handling of contaminated and irregular materials. Both the external and internal core façade elements come from Grønttorvet’s original 1950s buildings.

Most of the building’s components originate from Grønttorvet. For instance, the construction incorporates 33,000 m3 of contaminated concrete already present on site. Despite being heavily polluted, the concrete elements were cleaned and integrated into the new structure.

The project extends the “Eat your park”-concept and includes an orangery, which will supply the kitchen year-round with herbs and vegetables. The ambition is for the house to function as a self-sufficient community hub and communal kitchen, raising awareness about the everyday choices we make regarding food and sustainability.

The community house is designed as a platform for good neighborhood relations and social exchange, and the transparent architecture reveals the variety of activities taking place inside. Together with the orangery, the structure presents a coherent, pavilion-like appearance and frames a new public square connected to the promenade and with views of the nearby park.

Through the reuse of historic elements, the building ensures that Grønttorvet’s unique identity and story remain a visible and living part of the neighborhood’s ongoing development.

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