In 1934 the architect Vilhelm Lauritzen was invited to join the team commissioned to design the then ‘Radiohus’ on Rosenørns Allé. This was the start of, what was to be a historic collaboration between the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects.
At the turn of the Millennium, DR wanted to consolidate all their TV, radio, and concert facilities in one building complex. The media group organised an international architecture competition for a master plan for a 125,000m2 multi-media facility. Once again, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects won the competition. This time the mission of the project was to create a city within the city: a North African-style kasbah made up of four buildings, each with its own identity. The plan for the new headquarters in Ørestad was for the building complex to be easily recognisable as a building, while also featuring a variety of architectural expression.
It was the three Danish architectural firms, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, Dissing+Weitling, Gottlieb Paludan & Nobel, and the French architect Jean Nouvel, who jointly realised the intentions of Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects’ master plan.
As part of this same project, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects designed Segment 1 and Den Indre Gade (The Inner Street) – a glass-covered street that unites the four segments of DR Byen – representing one of the main features of the multi-media complex.
Its approximately 51,000m2 makes Segment 1 DR Byen’s largest building and its face to the outside world. Segment 1 houses bright editorial offices, studio blocks, an audience foyer, production facilities, and part of DR Broadcast Technology and IT. Den Indre Gade, the main artery of DR Byen, features a kiosk, a café, atriums, park, and common touchdown workplaces.
The people flow in DR-Byen is structured on two levels. The public flow is zoned on the ground floor in a north-south direction and the semi-public flow on the 2nd floor in an east-west direction across the main flow of Ørestad. The flow structure facilitates the establishment of a single main foyer and unimpeded entrance to the media building at the main intersections – the DR plaza and the internal plaza space.
The collaboration was based on partnering, and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects delivered a project that met all the requirements and wishes in terms of function, time schedule, sustainability, etc.
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