Middelfart Sparekasse: Architecture and the Workplace | Christian Bundegaard

in Publications by editor — 7:21 am | May 23, 20110 comments

Middelfart Savings Bank is far from just a bank and thus its new Head Office is not just a traditional office building. It is in fact a realization of the bank’s ambition to be amongst the best workplaces in Denmark and – at the same time – act as a social agent in the local community. 3XN interpreted these ambitions into a tactile design, understanding architecture as a comprehensive framework for social life.

Six months after its inauguration the building has been nominated for several international architecture awards and has been referred to as Denmark’s best office building by a leading Danish architecture critic. This book offers an illustrated glimpse behind the scenes and tells about the genesis of the building, the engaged client, and the architects’ struggle to give substance to their highly ambitious design.

“Back then I used to wear a cap a lot”, says Jan Ammundsen when asked how he and Kim Herforth Nielsen got the idea of the distinctive roof with its many dormers, a feature that more than anything characterizes the building. (p. 54)

Title: Middelfart Sparekasse
Text and editing: Christian Bundegaard
English Editing: Jack Renteria
Graphic Design: Bodil Nordstrøm
Photos: Adam Mørk
Publisher: 3XN | 2010
Details: 24 x 17 cm (9.4 x 6.7 x 0.9 in), 203 pages
Language: English and Danish
ISBN-10 8799368013
ISBN-13 978-8799368013