Ellebo Garden Room: Life between Buildings

Nordic Built Challenge, which was launched in 2012 by Nordic Innovation in Oslo challenged the Nordic construction industry to renovate five named buildings in the Nordic countries. The competition is part of a larger initiative that includes the Nordic Built Charter manifest. In September, the five national winners in the competition were announced and the winner of the main Nordic prize has now been selected by the Nordic Ministers for Business. The Danish/ British team behind the project Ellebo Garden Room took the main prize of NKK 1 million. Adam Khan Architects, Daniel Serafimovski Architects, Kristine Jensens Tegnestue and Price & Myers won for their innovative proposal for the renovation of a public housing complex in Ballerup outside Copenhagen.

The estate was built in 1963, and features four buildings for a total size of 20,000m2. Their challenge was to renovate the existing buildings and outdoor areas, create a good indoor climate, minimization of energy consumption and for additional housing.

The need to renovate and extend the building envelope is an opportunity to completely transform the experience of living in the Ellebo housing estate – to create а real sense of place and establish the basis of а vibrant and thriving community. Careful study of typological precedent, detailed investigation and reiteration of the design and an ongoing design conversation with the client has sharpened the fundamental vision for the Estate as а place where young families will want to live, to stay and to form the rich inter-generational bonds seen in other successful estates. The offer of affordable high quality accommodation and the chance to express individuality and take initiative in the care of the shared spaces taps into contemporary desires of living well and living with others.

The simple act of assessing and valuing that which already exists is а radical critique of tabula rasa development, bringing the myriad benefits of а sustainable approach – from reduced embodied energy and reduced social upheaval to conferring а sense of dignity of this rather forlorn place.

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Materials provided by the organizing committee of Nordic Built Challenge