Project: Noma 2.0, Copenhagen, Denmark
Client: Noma
Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
Project Typology: Cultural, Commercial
Project Area: 1290 m2
Noma, a two-Michelin star restaurant, is situated between two lakes and within the community of Christiana. It is built on a protected ex-military warehouse site, which was once used to store mines for the Royal Danish Navy. As known for its reinvention and interpretation of Nordic Cuisine, the new branch was created as an intimate culinary garden village where guests are welcomed to experience a new menu and philosophy.
The primary design problem was to create a new home for one of the most highly regarded, wildly experimental restaurants in the world with respecting the military heritage and strict regulations of the site and building. This is because Sominedepotet was a listed storage facility for sea mines built at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, along with the fortifications of Copenhagen, Sominedepotet is a protected national landmark. The clients not only wanted a new home for the restaurant but also emphasized the need to create a welcoming atmosphere where the guests and staff were also connected to the natural surroundings of the site.
PHILOSOPHY AND PLANNING CONCEPT
Given the requirements, Central to the design became the inspiration found in the traditional Nordic Farm typology called “the saeter.” According to BIG – “A saeter can be described as a loose cluster of individual buildings, housing specific functions, spread across the landscape- and the arctic village, where buildings are closely related yet visually diverse variations of the same type.” Hence, the architects tried to entail creating a “community,” as the initial approach of new buildings, situated at the southern end of the existing structure.
As the concept – the front of the house program is where guests share primary experiences split into individual units by functions. In the front of the house, a total of eleven spaces are custom-made to their specific needs and are densely clustered around the restaurant‘s hearts, putting the chefs at the heart of it all. The back of the house fits right into the existing structure of Sominedepotet.
It is placed in an efficient, long bar of services that is accessible via a significant passage along the east-facing wall. The greenhouses are located on the last three existing foundations, which work as a garden, a test kitchen, and a bakery.
As described, the heart of the densely clustered built form is the service kitchen, which is situated close to the prep kitchen and the dishwashing area in the existing building to provide a smooth functioning during meal service. Its position in the center ensures good visual and physical connections to all other functions providing the chef’s a full overview and control of everything happening during service. According to BIG– “each building within the building is linked by glass-covered paths for chefs and guests to follow the changes in weather, daylight and seasons – making the natural surroundings an intrinsic part of the culinary experience.”
MATERIALS
The restaurant showcases an open floor plan, created in a manner wherein the guests can experience and enjoy chefs cooking. The spaces are built to showcase the use of local materials and construction techniques, which relate to the site’s heritage value. The 40 cover dining room and private dining arena are made of stacked timber planks wherein space overlooks the site’s grasslands and lake.
A large skylight and an expansive set of windows that slide help reveals the outdoor permaculture garden, allowing guests to truly appreciate all the seasons and the natural environment of the site. This was one of the many reasons for selecting this site as an appropriate space to build the restaurant.
The interiors prominently consist of light wood and glass, which simultaneously help the chefs and guests enjoy the culinary experience in a light-breezy sense. According to BIG- “the barbeque is a giant walk-in hut, and the lounge looks and feels like a giant, cozy fireplace constructed entirely of brick, inside out.”
The ceilings range from simple A-frame gables to overlapping planks to a ribbed sequence of beams, varying in angle and height in order to create a gratifying, upside-down topography.
