Frederiksberg Music and Culture Center

The design for the Frederiksberg Music and Culture Center transforms the historic Conservatory Grounds in the heart of the Danish capital into a vibrant cultural campus. Inspired by Vilhelm Lauritzen’s iconic and preserved Radio House building on the site, the project creates a series of small extensions – rather than designing one single building – connected by shared courtyards, fostering interaction among artistic disciplines. With sculptural forms, lush gardens, and a central green oasis, the campus brings film, dance, art, and music together while opening the site as a cultural destination for students, residents, and the wider city. With the project, Cobe composes a new cultural destination while liberating the full potential of the historically significant site.

The project is based on a thorough analysis of the Radio House as an architectural and acoustic masterpiece. The balance between its rigid lines and soft curves, its homogeneous and tactile materiality, its sculptural and green roof landscapes, and the acoustic principles and use of wood inside. Frederiksberg Music and Culture Center is an extension and a reinterpretation of this unique place.

The sand-colored stone panels of the original Radio House are the departure point for the new school’s facade design. By reinterpreting the existing stone jointing pattern, the school’s program is met by introducing openings for daylight and views to the city.

The project is designed to gather multiple schools into one creative campus and community. As a flexible campus where all functions are facing the central courtyard, the aim is to create a place where different artistic directions can meet and enrich each other.