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Vallensbæk Church’s Gardeners’ House

The number of inhabitants in Vallensbæk Parish is growing, and therefore the parish needed more burial sites both next to the modern Helligtrekongers Church and the medieval Vallensbæk Church, which is part of the Danish built heritage. With Elgaard Architecture as adviser, the parish council therefore decided to transform the former “disaster cemetery”, which was established during the Cold War, into a new park cemetery and in this connection furthermore improve the cemetery gardeners’ facilities such as their staff and machine buildings.

Facts

Year
2012-2015

Theme
A new machine building and rebuilding of the gardeners’ house

Client
Vallensbæk Parish

Partners
Rambøll (personnel building)

Vallensbæk Church Gardeners' House Elgaard Architecture
The rebuilt gardeners’ house appears with the tile as the supporting material in a tight, simple expression. The tile details bear strong references to the original church and chapel. The ventilation system is hidden in the new chimney and windows behind the pattern of the masonry, so that the tight and simple expression is created. The exterior walls stand in a grouted, glossy wall in a combination of new and old red bricks.
Vallensbæk Church Gardeners' House interior after restoration Elgaard Architecture
The conversion included two new men's / women's changing rooms with baths, a shared lunch room with kitchen, a storage, washing and drying room as well as a public toilet for disabled people. A free-standing storage unit divides the building's central space into an entrance hall and a dining area. The room's red tile floor extends between the two exterior facades and thus connects the building's tile surfaces. The flooring continues outdoors, where it creates a small terrace that softens the transition between the inside and the outside.
“The cemetery gardeners' facilities such as their staff house and machine building and the new cemetery now constitute an integrated entity.”
Vallensbæk Church Gardeners' House Elgaard Architecture
A new master plan for the area around the old and the new church was drawn up when the former “disaster cemetery”, which was established during the Cold War, was laid out as a new park cemetery.