TIRPITZ Museum

Architect: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Owner: Claus Kjeld Jensen

Location: Blåvand, Denmark

A sanctuary situated on a dramatic war-history site on Denmark’s west coast, this museum has transformed a never-completed German bunker into a groundbreaking cultural complex. Antithetical to the dark days of World War II occupation and the heaviness of the cement bunker, the architects’ delicate intervention adds a central public square surrounded by light-filled spaces embedded in the landscape.

The museum is situated in the city of Blåvand on the Jutland peninsula within Wadden Sea National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Because the park contains the world’s largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats, the project was subject to strict preservation rules. Since the museum was built below ground, to lessen its impact on the region, it appears from a distance to be a natural sand dune.

Visitors approach the museum on winding pathways lined with heath, eventually transitioning into a rigid intersection as they approach the bunker. Four simple incisions provide access to a sunken central courtyard leading to four discrete gallery spaces. Though they are carved directly into the sand, 20-foot glass façades allow ample daylight to flood the underground spaces.

The project gathered four unique and independent institutions under one roof: an existing war-focused bunker museum, an amber museum, a local history museum, and a gallery dedicated to special exhibitions. Each housed in its own gallery, they all connect to the bunker through a tunnel where visitors can explore an interactive exhibit that reveals how the bunker would have functioned upon its completion.

In addition to serving as a portal to the Danish coast’s rich history and maintaining the protected shorelands, the project delivers a much-needed attraction to support year-round tourism. Drawn to Blåvand’s verdant landscapes and peaceful dunes, the area receives Denmark’s second most annual holiday visits, behind only Copenhagen. Response to the museum has been overwhelmingly positive, exceeding the client’s anticipated goal of 100,000 annual visitors just two months after it opened in June 2017.

Additional information

Structural Engineer: AKT II

Structural / Façade Engineer: Luechinger Meyer

Exhibition Designers: Tinker Imagineers

Exhibition Contractor: Kloosterboer Décor

Sustainability Consultant: BIG IDEAS

MEP Engineer: Fuldendt

Wind Consultant: Svend Ole Hansen

Acoustics Consultant: Gade & Mortenson Akustik

Landscape Architect: Bach Landskab

Fire Consultant: COWI

PM & Owner’s Rep: Kjaehr & Trillingsgaard

Concrete Consultant: Pelcon

Jury

Jeanne Chen, AIA, Chair, Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, Santa Monica, California

Rania Alomar, AIA, RA-DA, West Hollywood, California

Alicia Berg, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Raymond M. Bowman, Assoc. AIA, Pittsburgh, PA

Katherine K. Chia, FAIA, Desai Chia Architecture PC, New York, NY

Shannon R. Christensen, AIA, CTA Architects Engineers, Billings, Montana

Eugene C. Dunwody Jr., AIA, Dunwody/ Beeland Architects, Macon, Georgia

Henry Moss, AIA, Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts

David Rosa-Rivera, Savannah College of Art and Design, Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Image credits

02_AIA_TIRPITZ_Announcement-Image by Rasmus Hjortshoj

Rasmus Hjortshoj

03-AIA_TIRPITZ_Announcement-Image by Rasmus Hjortshoj

Rasmus Hjortshoj

04-AIA_TIRPITZ_Announcement-Image by Rasmus Hjortshoj

05-AIA_TIRPITZ_Announcement-Image by Laurian Ghinitoiu

BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group