Poplen Youth Club Jyllinge

GOAL no. 3, 9, 12

A plain boxy building has been transformed into a club house for children and young people in the small town of Jyllinge.

Sparsely populated areas risk entering a negative cycle where depopulation results in the closure of facilities for children and young people making it even harder to encourage people to stay. Vacant buildings contribute to a sense of decay, and often demolition seems the only or obvious choice. In addition, demolition is costly and usually wasteful, as materials are reduced to rubble.

Poplen Youth Club is an active meeting place for older children and young people in a small town, created through the transformation and expansion of a former day-care institution. In architectural terms, the bright red building is an interpretation of the traditional barns and fishermen’s houses in the old part of Jyllinge. The original pitched roof has been continued over an extension to the west. New covered spaces and bays have been carved out in the structure, drawing light into the existing building and adding intimate nooks and corners both indoors and outdoors. A multipurpose hall with a climbing wall and room for ball games is one of the most popular spaces.

Many of the original building components were reused or recycled, and the architects aimed to optimize energy use, lighting and the influx of daylight to provide great indoor experiences and minimize energy consumption.

The young users were involved in the design phase, and the youth club is now experiencing a growing number of visitors.

This project demonstrates how existing building stock in rural areas can be transformed with inspiration from local architecture to provide sound, sustainable and fun activity settings for children and young people.

Project details

Where: Møllevej 10, 4040 Jyllinge

Completed: 2012

Client: Roskilde Municipality

Architects and advisors: Cornelius Vöge Atelier for Arkitektur, E. Troelsgård (engineer)