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The Nicolai Cultural Centre is a conversion of five previous school buildings enclosing a common schoolyard. Each building represents a period in Danish school history, from the first school dating 1856 to the last built that opened in 1909. None of the buildings were in use as school buildings; two were listed as cultural heritage. The project is a result of a competition in 2002 hosted by The City of Kolding and supported by the foundation RealDania, who were especially interested in new ways of conversion and use of listed cultural buildings.
The main concept for the conversion was conceived in close collaboration with the landscape architect.
1) To connect the five buildings, all very different in material and volume, with the use of the same material – corroded steel for all new additions. Large vertical and horizontal slabs of corroded steel walls connect the different volumes and make a sense of unity.
2) To keep the informal asphalt schoolyard as the surface connecting to history, but upgraded and spatially nuanced.
3) A collage-like strategy for the renovation and conversion changes. The quite tight budget was strongly prioritised. Some surfaces were stripped down bare, some were left as it was and some were clearly added new additions. Some spaces were altered dramatically and some barely painted. The cultural center consists of five different houses with their own functional identity - cinema house and café, house of heritage, house of Children’s Culture, house of arts and crafts and house of music.
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Plan Magazine
