Old Dock

The Old Dock Warehouse was built in 1882, with H.C. Scharling as the architect. At the time its appearance was that of a slate-roofed building in two storeys. The architecture of the warehouse has adapted to the architectural ideal of the period, familiar to us from numerous industrial and agricultural buildings. At Old Dock Warehouse the structural design provides continuity with the tradition adopted by Eigtved and Harsdorff, used in warehouses elsewhere in the port. The building is pile founded, constructed with a main walled partition in three storeys and otherwise traditionally built with beams, girders and posts.
In 1920 the warehouse was converted, a third storey added on top, and the original, low slate roof replaced with a tall, pitched and tiled half-hipped roof. During extensive restoration and conversion in 1984-86 the building was refitted to house the Danish Architecture Centre and the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts.

Externally, the building has undergone few changes. The large roof has been renewed using the existing and newly manufactured interlocking tiles. The building’s many attics have been rebuilt so as to optimize the influx of light. During the daytime the evenly distributed windows, including the ”opened-up” hoist doors, provide useful and beautifully distributed light far into the building. In workshops, screened lamps have been suspended, exploiting the whitewashed ceilings between the beams and reflectors.

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