Henning Larsen designs Danish church as "space for reflection, gathering and encounter"

Architecture studio Henning Larsen has unveiled Højvangen Church in Skanderborg, Denmark, which aims to balance the community and spiritual needs of a contemporary church.

Set within woodland on the outskirts of Skanderborg, it is the first church built in the town for 500 years.

Henning Larsen aimed to design a church that would act as a community centre, while also being a contemporary spiritual space.

“In Denmark, the church is often a civic anchor as much as a sacred space,” Henning Larsen global design director Greta Tiedje told Dezeen.

“The design operates across three scales: it completes the town’s ecclesiastical timeline as the third church built over 500 years, it responds to the open, wooded site, where it stands like a quiet clearing, and it forms an intimate interior shaped by warm materials and filtered light,” she continued.

“The result is a space for reflection, gathering and encounter.”

Along with religious ceremonies, the church is designed to host community gatherings and cultural events. As such, the double-height main hall is an open square space with only the font being a permanent fixture.

Constructed from pale brick with exposed glued-laminated timber (glulam) roof beams, the room’s only religious iconology is a full-height brass cross.

“Rather than relying on symbolism or hierarchy, the architecture is shaped by openness and inclusivity,” explained Tiedje.

“There is no formal nave, the baptismal font is the only fixed furniture, and the priest stands among the people on the same level,” she continued. “It’s a more democratic space, one that reflects the ways spiritual and social life intertwine today.”

Surrounding the main hall are seating niches along with a series of small rooms containing toilets, a cloakroom, the priest’s preparation room and a large meeting area.

A small chapel with full-height glazing extends from the building into the surrounding forest. Nearby is a pared-back bell tower and clock, also built from pale brick.

Unlike many churches, which have a clearly defined front and rear, the building’s double-height main hall is designed to look similar from all directions.

According to Henning Larsen, this was to encourage people to approach it.

“Situated between neighbourhoods and near forest and open land, the church is meant to be approached from all sides, by all people,” said Tiedje.

“That sense of inclusivity reinforces its role as a shared, civic space, integrated into daily life rather than set apart from it.”

Overall, Tiedje hopes that through the use of light and choice of materials and massing, the studio has created a contemporary church that respects history but is not overtly ecclesiastical.

“We weren’t interested in mimicry or pastiche,” she explained. “This is a modern church that expresses its identity through material, light, and atmosphere rather than traditional ecclesiastical cues.”

“Its architecture reflects evolving values around sacred space; more communal, less prescriptive,” she continued.

“Where traditional churches often direct attention vertically, toward the heavens, Højvangen Church opens outward. It’s a more horizontal typology, grounded in the surrounding landscape and everyday life.”

Henning Larsen was established in Copenhagen in 1959 by the Danish architect Henning Larsen. The studio previously designed the Enghøj Church in 1994 and is currently designing Ørestad Church, which is the first church to be built in Copenhagen for more than 30 years and will have a bark-like facade.

Its other recent projects include the timber Klaksvík Row Club in the Faroe Islands and the World of Volvo exhibition and events centre in Gothenburg, which has a tree-like roof structure.

The photography is by Rasmus Hjortshøj.

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