BIG conceives an 'intimate garden village' for michelin-star restaurant in copenhagen

in copenhagen, BIG-bjarke ingels group has designed a cluster of buildings that serves as the new home for noma — one of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants. situated within the community of christiania, the new venue is built on the site of a protected ex-military warehouse once used to store mines for the royal danish navy. conceived as an ‘intimate garden village,’ the restaurant’s various functions are organized as a collection of separate yet connected buildings, with interiors done in collaboration with studio david thulstrup.

all images by rasmus hjortshøj

noma is a two-michelin-star restaurant run by chef rené redzepi. since opening in 2003, noma has been recognized four-times as best in the world by the world’s 50 best restaurants. its former home — a 16th century harborside warehouse — closed in 2017, with the new venue, developed and built in partnership with BIG, opening in february 2018. in total, 11 spaces are densely clustered around the kitchen, which oversees the guest areas, including the main and private dining rooms.

a cluster of buildings serves as the new home for noma

a large skylight and an expansive set of windows reveal the outdoor garden. elsewhere, towards the other end of the plot, three free-standing glass houses provide produce for the restaurant’s garden, test kitchen, and bakery. guests are able to access each of the buildings and experience a range of nordic materials and building techniques. spaces enclosed with glass fit in-between the individual structures, enabling guests to stay in constant connection with nature. the historic 100-meter-long warehouse completes the circle of buildings surrounding the kitchen. the architects maintained the warehouse’s raw concrete shell and inserted a monumental wooden shelf for storage and display, where all of the back-of-house functions are located.

the restaurant is situated within the community of christiania

‘the new noma dissolves the traditional idea of a restaurant into its constituent parts and reassembles them in a way that puts the chefs at the heart of it all,’ explains bjarke ingels. ‘every part of the restaurant experience – the arrival, the lounge, the barbecue, the wine selection and the private company – is all clustered around the chefs. from their central position, they have a perfect overview to every corner of the restaurant while allowing every single guest to follow what would traditionally happen behind-the-scenes. each ‘building within the building’ is connected by glass covered paths that allow chefs and guests to follow the changes in weather, daylight and seasons—making the natural environment an integral part of the culinary experience.’

the new venue is built on the site of a protected ex-military warehouse

the project is conceived as an ‘intimate garden village’

the site’s various functions are organized as a collection of distinctive yet connected buildings

stacked timber planks resemble neatly piled wood at a lumber yard

11 spaces are densely clustered around the kitchen

free-standing glass houses provide produce for the restaurant’s garden

guests remain in constant connection with nature

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project info:

client: noma
size: 1,290 sqm / 13,885 sqf
location: refshalevej, copenhagen, denmark
collaborators: BIG ideas, BIG engineering, NT consult, studio david thulstrup, thing&brandt landskab

BIG-bjarke ingels group
partners-in-charge: bjarke ingels, finn nørkjær
project manager: ole elkjær-larsen, tobias hjortdal
project leader: frederik lyng
team: olga litwa, lasse lyhne-hansen, athena morella, enea michelesio, jonas aarsø larsen, eskild schack pedersen, claus rytter bruun de neergaard, hessam dadkhah, allen dennis shakir, göcke günbulut, michael kepke, stefan plugaru, borko nikolic, dag præstegaard, timo harboe nielsen, margarita nutfulina, nanna gyldholm møller, joos jerne, kim christensen, tore banke, kristoffer negendahl, jakob lange, hugo yun tong soo, morten roar berg, yan ma, tiago sá, ryohei koike, yoko gotoh, kyle thomas david tousant, geoffrey eberle, jinseok jang, ren yang tan, nina vuga, giedrius mamavicius, yehezkiel wiliardy, simona reiciunaite, yunyoung choi, vilius linge, tomas karl