Helsingør Maritime Skolehjem

Category

Residential Schools & Play

Location

Helsingør, Denmark

Client

U/Nord

Collaboration

LOOP Architects A/S, Tegnestuen LOKAL ApS, Søren Jensen Rådgivende Ingeniørfirma A/S

Contract period

2025-

Contact

Viktor Blicher Forchhammer

Landscape area

470 m2 (outdoor areas)

Construction cost

Image credits

Kragh Berglund,
LOOP Architects,
Tegnestuen LOKAL ApS

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Together with LOOP Architects, Tegnestuen LOKAL, and Søren Jensen Rådgivende Ingeniørfirma, Kragh Berglund has won the architectural competition for Helsingør Maritime Skolehjem. The new dormitory for young students in the boatbuilding program is now being realized – a project that carefully balances tradition with contemporary functionality. The building will be placed as an infill in Helsingør’s historic city center, respecting the town’s scale and architectural character.

Working with a classic courtyard block typology, the new building naturally integrates into the city’s structure. The block defines and activates the surrounding landscape on both sides with recognizable and timeless urban spatial types: the street, the alley, the public space, and the courtyard. Each space has its own atmosphere and function, yet all are unified by materials and details that echo the historic character of Helsingør – such as brick, granite, and wrought elements.

Within the block, a traditional courtyard is created with an almost sacred quality: a clipped lawn with a solitary tree at its center, encircled by a brick-paved cloister. This forms a quiet counterpoint to the city’s vibrant streets – a place for calm, reflection, and immersion. It is a space where students can retreat and find balance in a busy everyday life.

“Each space has its own atmosphere and function, yet all are unified by materials and details that echo the historic character of Helsingør.”

The brick floor stages the arrival at the boarding school, defining it as a distinctive place in the city.

The brick flooring highlights the cloister’s architectural kinship with historic cloisters, as seen in Helsingør Monastery.

Broad timber sleepers function both as steps and borders in the paving transitions.

Timber sleepers and gravel paving define a new urban space that reflects the boarding school’s maritime identity.

The courtyard is elevated to the building’s floor level to ensure step-free and universal access via a new brick arrival ramp that gently flows into the surrounding cityscape.

Competition winning proposal, 2025.

The Maritime Boarding School merges functional dormitory living with Helsingør’s cultural and historical heritage – creating a home and learning environment where young people can find both community and a sense of belonging.