A Series of Interlocking Gables Create a Light-Filled Family Home in Denmark

C.F. Møller Architects implements an abundance of brick in an homage to another of their projects, the elegant Aarhus University.

Jun 7, 2021 - 23:51

A Series of Interlocking Gables Create a Light-Filled Family Home in Denmark

C.F. Møller Architects implements an abundance of brick in an homage to another of their projects, the elegant Aarhus University.

Aarhus, Denmark, known for standout structures like the Arne Jacobsen–designed City Hall, and the sleek towers of The Iceberg apartment complex, is a destination rich with innovative architecture. Here, in a neighborhood thronged with small, single-family residences, C. F. Møller Architects has crafted an inviting, contemporary villa that draws inspiration from Aarhus University.

While "funky white boxes" dominate local residential vernacular, the client for this home craved something different. Klaus Toustrup, partner and architect at the Aarhus office of C. F. Møller, responded in stride. "For us, it was natural to go back in our own history and look at Aarhus University, where a single brick building with composite saddle-roof buildings has formed the architectural foundation for a campus that through more than 90 years of expansion still stands both classic and modern," he explains.

To best complement its surroundings, this same form was embraced for the villa. A quartet of gable-roof volumes, "which contain the individual main functions, are put together so that they adapt to the sloping ground," adds Toustrup.