Welcoming entrance & visitor centre planned for historic centre of governance

The Danish Parliament and the Danish Building and Property Agency have announced that a team consisting of Tenderstream member Cobe, Arcgency, Drachmann, and Sweco, is the winner of the competition to design the future Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. The project aims to open up Denmark’s historic centre of governance, creating an accessible and inviting meeting place where everyone can experience democracy up close. The project marks the largest construction undertaking at the Danish Parliament since the reconstruction of Christiansborg Palace in 1928. 

A key project feature is the visitor centre, where citizens will learn about the work that goes on in parliament, and feel inspired to take part in democracy. The design for the new centre is influenced by the ancient Nordic parliament known as the ‘Tingsted’, which was a highly defined outdoor space for debate. The entrance is a circular, open meeting space, with amphitheatre stairs that act as a place for gathering and observing the dynamic daily life taking place in the parliament courtyard. At the foot of the stairs, ’The People’s Tree’ symbolizes the roots of democracy, while a unifying, level-free pavement of granite slabs within provides universal accessibility to the rest of the site. 

From the entrance, visitors are invited into a bright and generous underground space with archways that echo features of the existing structure, visually and physically linking the ensemble of buildings across time and within the complex. The adjacent National Archive buildings will be transformed into a multifunctional facility, housing a restaurant and exhibition spaces alongside modern parliamentary committee rooms and workplaces, many with access for the public. 

Dan Stubbergaard, founder of Cobe and professor at Harvard University, states: “The Danish Parliament is the democratic stronghold of Denmark. Through this project, we aim to showcase the uniqueness of Danish democracy, making it open and accessible for everyone - yet still efficient, safe and secure, and to invite us all further inside its buildings, into the heart of parliamentary work, creating a democratic meeting place for all.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

This tender was first published by Tenderstream on 24.04.2023 here

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