The Slaughterhouse

The project’s site is the Slaughterhouse in Aarhus Meatpacking District, which is being transformed into a self-sufficient food facility. This site is interesting because of its central location in the city, food-related history, and location in the current development of Sydhavnen. Instead of producing meat, the building will transform into a sustainable food production facility with recirculation of resources by upcycling bio-waste into energy and building materials.

Today the Slaughterhouse is only up and running 3-4 days a week, and if the law proposal for a new beer tax gets through, they have no chance of surviving after 2024. The Slaughterhouse will most likely shut down in 2024 when its contract with the municipality runs out. The production is already a business in a downward movement as Danes are buying less beef because of the rising awareness of the individuals’ environmental footprint.

History:

The original building was built in 1895 and designed by the architect Henery Meyer, and it was constructed with bricks with a gable roof (A). In 1950 a significant extension was made in concrete on the east side of the original building. This was to add more freezers and distribution spaces with a window roof to let light into the big spaces (B). A few years later, two minor extension was made south of the original building, with the same concrete construction and window roof system (C). In the 1970s, a new distribution extension was made of concrete, brick, and metal (D). And in the late 1980s, the most recent extension was added with more freezers (E). This part is made of metal, plastics, and some concrete. Around the building are lots of new containers and ventilation addition. For its 100 years of existence, this building has been through a lot.

Context:

The Slaughterhouse lies on Aarhus’s green border and has connection lines with train tracks used back in the day to distribute the meat. It lies in the Aarhus meatpacking district, located between the attractive residential neighborhood of Frederiksbjerg and the heavy industrial area on the harbor front. The district was planned in the late 1800s to be an urban meatpacking district where livestock was sold and bought at the cattle square (kværgtorv). However, during the last half of 1900, the functions of the meatpacking district moved out to the countryside inside more giant factories. Later, different entrepreneurs and creative heads moved into the old structures and turned them into offices, workshops, sound studios, and hidden apartments. As a result, only two parts of the old meatpacking district have kept their original function: the restaurant ‘Kohalen,’ where you once could sit and enjoy your beef in the middle of this vibrant district, and the Slaughterhouse.

Logistics

The complex’s interior is organized after different steps in cutting up the cow corps and the belonging stages of hygiene. For example, the archway separates the meat with skin and the raw meat without skin. The easter part of the complex is the “clean” part with freezers and meat distribution spots. The west part is the unclean part of the building where slaughtering and rough cutting happen. The south is for distribution. Throughout the whole building, a robust meat hanging rail system is used to transport the cattle around for the different steps in the slaughtering process. This butcher rail system is a unique typology; only one hook can hold a ton. It is also characteristic of slaughterhouses and will stay in my design

Environmental qualities

I have examined the existing environmental qualities through several analyses of the building, such as temperature, light, and humidity. As a result, I realized that the building has different unique qualities. For example, these spaces have different lighting and temperature conditions, finishes, and services. These aspects have been a fundamental part of my design process since they have informed a careful reorganization of the building, which considers its existing qualities.

Diagrams: Temperature (A), Light (B), Humidity (C).

Materiality

The many extensions made to the building have not only given it a lot of history but also a rich material palette. The interior walls are clad with different types of white tiles, white columns make the wide ceiling span possible, and many mechanical metal installations exist for ventilation, cutting and transporting, etc. The white tiles and pillows are from when the Slaughterhouse was built at the start of the 1900s, and most of the mechanical installations are from the 1980s. The facades are all closed off, and no windows allow a view from the outside, only large windows with translucent glass bricks allow light through. The different roofs give the spaces different lighting.

Since the building is a slaughterhouse, there is a lot of stainless steel and other materials/services that have relevant durability. In the building taxonometry, I have categorized materials from the building which I see as possibilities to be reused and reorganized.