The New H.C. Andersen Museum in Odense
Projects
Modern fairytale. The older H.C. Andersen becomes, the more modern he becomes. With a little help from a wide range of international experts. Including LE34. The impressive construction project The New HCA Museum has taken shape.
Kunde:
Periode:
- 2017 - 2021
Services
- Property formation
- Situational plan
- Client consultancy
- Fix point network
- Setting-out drawings
- Building measurement
- Detail set-out
- Building set-out
- Scanning
- Deformation monitoring
- As-built documentation
The story of The New HCA Museum is the story of a fascinating collaboration between skilled specialists, advanced land surveying technology and good craftsmanship.
Once upon a time, there was a small museum...
As the country’s third largest city and H.C. Andersen’s birth town, the City Council in Odense decided in 2016 that the existing H.C. Andersen Museum should be replaced by a new and larger international format. An architectural team consisting of Japanese Kengo Kuma, Danish Cornelius+Vöge, and Danish-Finnish MASU Planning designed a museum where everything is round. Underground and above ground. Inside and outside. The circular forms were designed to enthral the museum guests, circle by circle, in the special universe of H.C. Andersen.
Since then, a large number of contractors, craftsmen and specialists, including LE34, have become the team that turns the drawings into reality. Today the building is well under way – and the circular buildings with green roofs and the circular fairytale garden have taken shape; the small museum has spread its wings like a swan.
Photos: Kindly lent by Kengo Kuma Architects and Associates, Cornelius+Vöge Architects and Odense Municipality.
LE34 is the client's main thread throughout the construction process
H.C. Andersen is known for his fairytales. At LE34 we are known for being the main thread on large construction projects, where we link the process – from the legal foundation with property formation to technical services such as setting out, fixed points and deformation monitoring. Our role in The New H.C. Andersen Museum is no exception. And yet…
Our role is almost even more important than in other construction projects where the buildings are square. Everything in the new HCA Museum is round, and it poses challenges for all involved contractors and consultants. Therefore, LE34’s control measurements and highly accurate setting-out work are absolutely crucial to the client, Odense Municipality. We check that the construction is completed as designed and planned – we continuously check all the details of the building as it progresses. Including checking that the construction is correctly positioned, that it not tilting, and that the round forms are dead straight, inside and out.
Furthermore, early in the project we secured the legal foundation of the municipality’s project by establishing and setting out boundaries for the new museum.
Advanced technology secures the construction and the surroundings
The old museum has been demolished – and LE34 headed to the site for the first time with our monitoring equipment.
The advanced equipment measures any vibration in the ground, providing clarity as to whether any deformation has occurred on neighbouring properties as a result of the demolition work. We continue to monitor the construction site – now to check the impact of the building on neighbouring properties in the dense city centre.
We use a combination of total station and the latest in laser scanning equipment to collect a set of complete high-precision data.
LE34 ensures that the round and the skew are straight
LE34’s team of chartered land surveyors and survey technicians is often at the construction site. We act as an extra crew for Aarsleff contractors when, at peak loads, there is a need for many set-outs within a short time horizon, and for NCC contractors during holiday periods. This is a comprehensive setting-out process in which we set out significantly more points than usual – because everything is round or skewed. Even floors and roofs have skewed angles, and we use both total station and scanning to collect enough detailed data to work from.
Every time a project subcontracter finishes, we carry out control measurements to ensure that the next subcontractor can build on a proper foundation. Large parts of the museum are below ground, and all floors must match to the millimetre. Furthermore, the contract is divided between Aarsleff and NCC, each of which is responsible for the construction below and above the ground, respectively, which means that part of our responsibility is also to check that the work of the two contractors is compatible – it is after all the same building, all the way up from the basement level to the top floor.
Maintenance of the fixed point network
During the construction process, we also ensure maintenance of the fixed point network. Any damaged fixed points will be repaired and measured immediately.
Furthermore, we have made sure that enough fixed points are established in the urban landscape to give ourselves and contractors’ survey technicians the technical foundation necessary for setting out and surveying.
The dense inner city surrounding the construction site means that we have established fixed points on top of the highest buildings in the immediate area, and we use many prisms located in different locations below, in and above ground to ensure high-quality setting out.
Wood and good craftsmanship
Besides being round, the museum is also characterized by the use of wood. Lots of wood. For roof constructions and window partitions.
For carpenters/joiners S. Guldfeldt Nielsen, we set out for the installation of roof structures, lifts, windows – primarily where fittings for their wooden structures will be used. Along the way, we coordinate closely with the German company Baucon, international specialists in wood constructions.
Extraordinary setting out of electricity, ventilation and gardens
At the HCA Museum site, we carry out tasks for a majority of the contractors involved – this also applies to Linde El, landscapers OKNygaard, and to the sale of ventilation for Aarsleff. The fact that there is a need for a land surveyor company to set out, in particular precision setting out, for cables and pipes, outlets and ventilation systems, is very unusual.
Normally, electrical and ventilation companies can do their installations properly themselves, but due to the museum’s circular shapes and lack of square angles, an exceptionally precise location of electricity and ventilation was needed. In this way, we helped to ensure that the installations would fit together between the different floors.
The landscaper OKNygaard also usually sets out itself – using strings and sticks – but the round shapes throughout the new garden mean that there was also a need to ensure that the different elements of the garden were correctly aligned and ensure the correct dimension of each element. LE34 has completed precision setting out with an accuracy of better than 10 mm.
Fairytale details
Circles everywhere. The building itself will have an area of 5,600 m2, two thirds of which will be established underground to create as large a magical garden area as possible in the centre of Odense.
Owner: Odense Municipality
Responsible for the exhibition: Odense Municipality Museums
Financial contributor: A.P. Møller Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, Knud Højgaards Foundation and Odense Municipality
Architect: Japanese Kengo Kuma Architects and Associates, Cornelius+Vöge
Landscape architect: MASU Planning
The garden will be built on the roof of the museum buildings, but is more or less at street level.
The New HCA Museum is an essential part of the major changes in the city centre taking place in Odense in recent years, based on the closure of the street Thomas B. Thriges Gade. The street, which previously cut through the city, forms part of the project 9,000 m2 area, which also includes the area around the current H.C. Andersen’s House, the Children’s Cultural Centre Fyrtøjet (the tinderbox) and the Garden of Lotze. Odense’s light rail is also close to the museum.
Source: Odense Municipality
Find out more
Contact us
Are you curious about how LE34 can help you before, during and after a construction project?
Kristian Loftlund
Landinspektør og afdelingsleder for LE34 Odense
Hestehaven 21J
5260 Odense S
krl@le34.dk
+45 8140 4184