Returning to the roots

There is a buzzing activity at the Harbour in Aarhus. A former factory building, originally built for processing grains, now houses the art gallery ‘O’Space, facilities for Aarhus 2017-volunteers and a range of startup companies.

Combining old buildings with new functions is key for the owner of the building, construction company Olav de Linde. The company is planning an extensive building project on the premises, where newly built elements will be incorporated into the old buildings. The urban space will be extended into a green rooftop oasis with trees and greenhouses and will be open to citizens.
Managing Director and Owner, Olav de Linde, explains that renting out places like this offers new possibilities for uses of buildings, while at the same time ensuring diverse activity at the property. “Often, creative professions move into these temporary set-ups. Promoting startups has always been important to me, because I used to be there myself. It is exciting to follow the process in each company, how they grow as a business and how their ideas develop. This building on the harbour appeals to creative people and has traces back to what used to be”.

When the company Olav de Linde incorporates liveability as a framework for people’s lives, it is essential that a building harmonises with its surroundings: “When you combine art, buildings and a green environment, you get a more complete experience of the setting”. This approach to urban spaces also implies a necessity of understanding the past of a place: “If you can relate to the past, you gain a better understanding of the present”, Olav de Linde says. The past is included in the company’s new constructions and transformations of older buildings by reusing original materials to the greatest extent possible. It calls for a creative and multifunctional use of the buildings. At the harbour in Aarhus, you can see for yourself. The old factory’s changing rooms now function as a kitchen and meeting rooms, while bearing in mind the original arrangement of the rooms. “The highest form of material recycling follows from devising new functions of the building. And that’s what we’re doing right here”, Olav de Linde adds.

Facts:

// A central theme of Aarhus 2017 is Liveability, understood as the framework surrounding people’s lives, work and thinking.

// Throughout the year as Capital of Culture, we will focus on how to promote liveability in developing the cities of the future.

// At the conference, Rising Architecture Week, you will get insight into innovative approaches to city development and liveability. The conference offers exiting challenges and presentations from among others the world-renowned Danish architect Jan Gehl and city architect of Aarhus, Stephen Willacy as well as a range of international speakers. The conference will take place in Aarhus from 11.-15. September. Read more about the event here.