Hjørring Arena is situated in the center of the city and surrounded by Femhøje barrow and several education institutions. The site provides high visibility and ensures a unique urban transgression. Hjørring Arena is designed in an extended client-cooperation consisting of Hjørring Municipality, VUC Nordjylland and Hjørring Private Realskole.
The Hjørring Arena provides a magnificent backdrop for the settlement of football matches and indoor sports facilities. Additionally, it also deploys an urban carpet of sport activities embracing the surrounding area and staging a natural meeting place for the city's young and active citizens. We call this carpet the “Sport Rambla" – and it reaches out and offers zones for different activities. The Rambla is a natural focal point of the city – an urban space containing activities like skating, climbing, parkour, cross-fit, flow yoga and raw fitness etc. This is the place where both citizens of all ages meet in common activity and “hang out” before and after matches or practice – the Rambla serves as an active complement to the more established sport and club-life inside the Arena.
From the “Sport Rambla,” the urban pavement leads you through the double-height lobby and entrance area into the café zone, which forms the building's central hub. From here, you have a visual connection toward the football field to the East as well as a direct connection to the activities in either sport hall 1 or 2.
By positioning the two sport-halls at an angel in relation to the Femhøje Road and “pulling” them apart, we create a natural focus on the entrance-space in between. This also establishes an elegant visual connection between the outdoor activities spanning from the “Sport Rambla” via the lobby and café area to the adjacent football field.
From Hall 2, it is possible to open up parts of the facade facing the Rambla. In this way, the sports hall serves as a backdrop for a wide range of possible outdoor events, and thus contribute to a flexible use of the hall- and lobby facilities. Teaching facilities, meeting rooms, VIP etc. are located on the first floor overlooking the football field with a direct connection to the foyer and hall activities.
The Hjørring Arena is developed and built as a low-energy building using the German Passive-House standards and based on sustainability principles from the DGNB-system. These combined elements ensure a sustainable building with considerable potential for optimal indoor air quality and comfort, reducing energy consumption and ensuring a robust design with maximum flexibility and low sensitivity to future energy resources.