kristoffer tejlgaard + benny jepsen: people's meeting dome

‘people’s meeting dome’ by kristoffer tejlgaard and benny jepsen, bornholm, denmark image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

this year’s people’s meeting in bornholm, denmark, is intended to spark debate and discussion about the future of housing. with a need for a venue, danish architects kristoffer tejlgaard and benny jepsen wanted to not only provide the space in which the event would take place, but also offer an independent piece that would in itself be a contribution. the ‘people’s meeting dome’ is in essence a deconstructed geodesic dome, a mathematically resolved and structurally efficient shape that unfortunately bears little architectural specificity to site. a geometric wooden frame composed of triangles as the smallest unit allowed the freedom to take differently sized sections and extrude, scale, push and pull them to accommodate programmatical elements as needed, in response to its physical context. the space structurally behaves the same and allows a column-less plan with small niches and crevices for seating and a stage.

the connections are made with custom steel plates that allow full flexibility through modularity. any group of triangular modules can be removed, expanded or contracted, made into a window, a door, or treated with a different veneer. the metal nodes incorporate the external structure as well as the interior rafters and tension cable connections. its construction possesses the potential to adapt to any scope with the capability to adapt to changing needs. a table of stress levels was produced with engineer henrik almegaard pinpointing four strength classes and minimizing the use of extensive material. all the wood used in the project is locally grown douglas pine, with 2×4’s and 2×6’s comprising the frames, and recycled old boards wrapping the facade in different patterns.

entry image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

recycled wood planks wrap the surface in varying patterns image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

interior of the pavilion image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

sections of glass flood the space with light image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

custom steel plate connections act as nodes for all the members of the structure image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

wood was used for the entire construction, with metal connections and tension cables image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

fish-eye of the image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

construction site image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

(left) custom steel plates and angles (right) construction of the dome image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

wooden structure image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

bird’s eye view image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

floor plan / level 0 image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

section image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

3D model image courtesy of kristoffer tejlgaard

project info:

area: 212 m2. height: 8m. features: kitchen, bar, dining area and stage. client: bl, denmark’s public housing. architects: kristoffer tejlgaard & benny jepsen. engineer: henrik almegaard. site: allinge, bornholm, denmark. date: june 2012.