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November 25, 2005
Protection Hearing
Borgermestervangen, Copenhagen
The Special Building Authority has at its meeting on 17 November
2005 proposed that the Railway Freight Station connected with the
warehouse building and the Custom House at Borgmestervangen 5, 7 and
17, unregistered railway property, Udenbys Klædebo Quarter,
Copenhagen, be protected.
The Building Authority’s recommendation
The Special Building Authority states: “The Authority finds
that the warehouse building consisting of an office building integrated
with a hall with loading ramps, together with the custom house lying
behind it, at Borgmestervangen 5, 7 and 17, Copenhagen, have the cultural
historic and architectural qualities to justify protection.
The Freighthalls has been a loading station for railway freight, and
as such this is a building type that has been a constant component
of every station facility in Denmark, whereas the adjacent custom
house characterizes the type of facility found only in the larger
cities. In addition to being representative of a typical but today
more and more rare type of building, the warehouse building located
in Nørrebro, due to its integration with a neo-classic administration
building and its impressively long and beautifully crafted storage
hall, is completely unique in relation to the more humble warehouses
in the provinces.
Architecturally, the two brick buildings – the office building
and the custom house – present a fine, modest neo-classicism,
where the office building is characterized by a very fine gable, exposed
brick work, finely proportioned windows and doors and hipped roof.
In addition, there is the long storage hall, which is an example of
the period’s proud traditions for carpentry; with the rhythmically
placed doorways, the supported overhang and the skylights’ division
of the roof construction, a powerful building with a strong character
is created, where the structural principle is clearly seen.
In addition, the warehouse building has cultural historic significance
for understanding the history of Outer Nørrebro’s industrially
conditioned development. In a time when most large industry in the
area has been closed down, the warehouse building tells the story
of the importance of infrastructure’s for the location of industry
in Copenhagen’s past. In the fully developed city at the beginning
of the last century, railways were located where there still was room
for them. The Lygten station, used for weekend trips out of the city,
and the workday station, Nørrebro, and the warehouse building
are an integrated whole that tells us about the development and diversity
within the railway structure, and how the location of the railway
strongly contributed to creation of a whole quarter – Outer
Nørrebro – with the many industries originally located
here, together with housing for the workers.
The Building Authority finds that the fundamental values to be protected
in the building complex at Borgmestervangen in relation to the administrative
building are connected with the building’s architectural appearance
with its fine masonry, the window and roof construction, and the inner
stairway’s robust but also elegant form with the banister elements
embedded in the steps of the stairway.
The fundamental values to be protected in the storage halls are connected
with the roof’s overhang over the rail and road ramps, the closed
character and the many portals, and inside, the visible rich carpentry
of the ceiling and walls as well as the skylights. The Building Authority
finds that it is thus not compatible with ensuring the values to be
protected to insulate the building.
In regard to future restoration, the Building Authority finally recommends
that the newer partitions in the administration building be removed
and the original division of spaces be re-established.
Hearing
Comments can be sent to the Cultural Heritage Administration. Comments
must be received by 1 April 2006.
Cultural Heritage Administration will then decide whether the building
shall be protected, at the latest 3 months after that date.
Consequences
Until the protection decision is made, no construction work can be
carried out besides ordinary maintenance, unless the Cultural Heritage
Administration gives permission.
This is in accordance with § 6, 3 in the law on protection of
building and city environments.
Announcement
The Cultural Heritage Administration will announce the proposal in
the local district and/or daily newspapers. This announcement will
also state the deadline for sending comments to the Administration.
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