Fæstningens Materialgård is a former military storage facility at 30 Frederiksholms Kanal in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
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. Arranged around a central courtyard, the individual buildings have been built to a homogeneous design, all with yellow-washed facades, green doors and gates, white window frames and red tile roofs, but they have in fact been accumulated over an extended period of time, mainly between 1740 and 1925. They also integrate visually and physically with the adjacent ''
Civiletatens Materialgård
Civiletatens Materialgård is a former storage facility at Frederiksholm Canal in Copenhagen, Denmark. The complex was used for the storing of materials used for the royal palaces but also has a long history as home and work place for sculptors ...
'', a storage facility associated with the royal palaces, and the
Royal Horse Guards Barracks, together forming an area of low, yellow buildings surrounded on three sides by
Frederiksholm Canal, Bryghusgade and
Vester Voldgade
Vester Voldgade ( lit. "West Rampart Street") is a street in Copenhagen, Denmark which runs from Jarmers Plads to the waterfront between Frederiksholms Kanal and Langebro, passing the City Hall Square on the way.
Together with Nørre Voldgade ...
.
The
International Federation for Housing and Planning
The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) is a world-wide network of professionals founded in England representing the broad field of housing and planning. Its membership is drawn from corporate organisations, professional indi ...
was one of the very first tenents moving into 30 Frederiksholms Kanal in December 2012
History
Frederiksholm Canal was dug in 1681 and a new military storage facility, ''Fæstningens Materialgård'', was established as a replacement of its predecessor in Rigensgade. None of these original buildings exist today.
Layout and architecture
The complex consists of four building volumes and two small sheds, interconnected by walls and surrounding a large courtyard. The main entrance to the area is through a gate on the corner of Frederiksholms Kanal and Bryghusgade. The courtyard contains a small garden with
Magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
trees and roses.
The buildings were listed by the
Danish Heritage Agency
The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces ( da, Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen) is an agency under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Culture. The agency carries out the cultural policies of the Danish government within the visual and performing arts, ...
in 1952 and the listing was extended to also include the courtyard environment with its original paving.
The Storage Keeper's House
The oldest building which still exists today is the Storage Keeper's House (''Materialforvalterboligen'') from 1740, located immediately to the right of the main gate and facing the canal. The architect is not known but may have been
Johan Cornelius Krieger
Johan Cornelius Krieger (1683–1755) was a Danish architect and landscape architect, who from the 1720s served as both the country's chief architect, and head of the royal gardens.
Krieger oversaw the construction of Fredensborg Palace and its ...
.
The building is nine bays wide and has a red
mansard roof with a large
wall dormer
A wall dormer is a dormer whose facial plane is integral with the facial plane of the wall that it is built into, breaking the line of the eaves of a building.
Wall dormers are less commonly seen than typical “roof dormers”. They locate the ...
both on its front and rear sides.
The interiors combine elements from the
Baroque, Empire and
Neoclassicism. The ground floor originally served representative purposes and is richly decorated. The first floor served as a residence and is built to a more simple design. The building still has its original window frames, doors, shutters and panelling.
Bryghusgade Wing
On the other side of the main entrance, along Bryghusgade, lies a building known as the Storage Building (''Magasinbygningen''). It was originally built in 1768 but has later been extended twice and the interiors have been altered.
Vester Voldgade Wing
The 45-bay long
half-timbered
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
building on the rear side of the complex was built in 1748 along the city's
West Rampart, now Vester Voldgade. The main facade of the building faces the courtyard where two dormers, originally with
hoist
Hoist may refer to:
* Hoist (device), a machine for lifting loads
* Hoist controller, a machine for raising and lowering goods or personnel by means of a cable
* Hydraulic hooklift hoist, another machine
* Hoist (mining), another machine
* Hoist ( ...
s, break up the monotony of the large tile roof. It was originally used for storage of materials and also contained stables in its eastern end.
Overhang Building
Originally two individual structures, separated by a pit for production of
slaked lime
Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca( OH)2. It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime (calcium oxide) is mixed or slaked with water. It has ma ...
, the Overhang Buildings (''Halvtagsbygningen'') were constructed in 1819 along the boundary to Civiletatens Materialgård, the name referring to the large
overhang of their
skillion roof
A shed roof, also known variously as a pent roof, lean-to roof, outshot, catslide, skillion roof (in Australia and New Zealand), and, rarely, a mono-pitched roof,Cowan, Henry J., and Peter R. Smith. ''Dictionary of Architectural and Building T ...
s. The building to the south was a storage shed and the building to the north contained a workshop. In 1925 they were connected to form one large building. A dormer window almost the full length of the building was added in the 1970s.
Realdania renovation
Fæstningens Materialgård was acquired by the
Realdania
Realdania is a private association in Denmark which supports projects in architecture and planning. It was established in 2000 following the sale of Realkredit Danmark to Danske Bank, when a fund of approximately 20 billion kroner (EUR 2.7 billio ...
foundation in 2007. The complex has subsequently been subject to a demonstration project targeted at investigating possibilities of carrying out and optimizing energy-saving renovations of listed buildings without compromising their architectural and historical qualities.
The renovation was completed in 2012 when the buildings were converted into office space. It required large technical installations which have been placed in a disused underground bunker beneath the couthyard.
IFHP Copenhagen office
The
International Federation for Housing and Planning
The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) is a world-wide network of professionals founded in England representing the broad field of housing and planning. Its membership is drawn from corporate organisations, professional indi ...
which collaborates with Realdania opened an office at 30 Frederiksholms Kanal in 2012.
Literature
* Kleis, Birgitte and Christian Varming, Jens: Fæstningens Materialgård. Realea. . 132 pages (in Danish and English).
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faestningens Materialgard
Frederiksholms Kanal
Fortifications of Copenhagen
Listed buildings and structures in Copenhagen
Timber framed buildings in Copenhagen