Sonnesgade 11 Office Building in Aarhus by SLETH

A new office building with an original cracked concrete façade has recently appeared in the Danish second-largest city Aarhus. For the architects from the Danish architectural practice SLETH, the starting point of the design was an ambition to reuse and rethink the spatial and material qualities of the former industrial site. The new building is directly grounded on the existing underground industrial structure that acts as the building’s foundation.

The building consists of three layers of 50 meters office floors supported by a core wall. Underneath the floors where the terrain defines an opening, a restaurant is placed towards the street. In the slope, a parking garage and a wine retailer are located. The building is formed with a high degree of flexibility and interaction between the floors, which enhances meeting situations between different users of the building. The individual floors are designed as open and flexible working environments, with all service functions integrated as a single architectural element in the eastern facade of the building.

Around the building, a sloped asphalt terrain forms the outdoor areas for terraces, bikes, and gardens. The buildings expression is a collage of elements reflecting the surroundings with six facades creating a dialogue with the mixed vague context.