The Prism

Culture

800
Dorte Mandrup_Torben Eskerod

The Prism’s distinctive light-green interior makes people stop in their tracks. The large multipurpose hall is actually envisioned as a covered outdoor space.

The Holmsbladsgade neighborhood in Amager was long one of the worst-served areas of Denmark in terms of sports facilities. This all changed in the summer of 2006 with the construction of a new sports and cultural center in the neighborhood. The center was part of the Holmbladsgade urban renewal project, which established a comprehensive plan for sports and cultural facilities in the neighborhood. The new multipurpose center is centrally located next to the park and activity area on Prags Boulevard.

An indoor landscape

The sports and cultural center is extremely flexible. There is room here for organized and spontaneous sports activities. The center can also host concerts and theater events. The core architectural idea is a multi-story green indoor landscape. At the bottom is a large plane for playing handball and other ball games. The green plane folds up one side towards a number of multifunctional plateaus, which are suitable for doing tai chi or yoga. Changing rooms, administrative offices and a cafe are located underneath the plateaus.

Bright webbed skin

The indoor landscape of the sporting and cultural center is covered by a gigantic and transparent roof. Like a large webbed foot, the roof stretches between the new building and four adjacent walls on an existing residential building.

This gives the sports and cultural center a distinctive look akin to a duck’s webbed foot. The transparent roof ensures optimal lighting throughout the building. When darkness falls, the building stands as a bright crystal on Holmbladsgade, where the shadows of indoor activities are visible from the outside.

 

 

Area

Amager

Architect

Dorte Mandrup
b&k+ brandlhuber & co.

Client

Copenhagen Municipality
Kvarterløft Holmbladsgade

Collaborator

Lokale og Anlægsfonden

Landscape architect

Schønherr Landskab

Engineer

Jørgen Nielsen Rådgivende Ingeniører

Contractor

N. H. Hansen & Søn A/S

Built

2006