Folkehuset VØ
A community house in Vorupør
The vision for Folkehuset VØ is to revitalize the former Vorupør school to a vibrant place for diverse and meaningful communities. We want to create spaces and activities for children, youngsters, adults, and seniors, and for newcomers and tourists. Folkehuset VØ is the heart of Vorupør, pumping life, culture, and a sense of community into the local area, making Vorupør a place to live, work, and visit all year round.
Folkehuset VØ - A lighthouse for communities
Folkehuset VØ is centrally located in north-west Jutland in the coastal town of Vorupør. With Folkehuset VØ, we dream of supporting the local communities with a place where locals can meet, where newcomers can establish a network, and where tourists experience the authentic down to earth lifestyle.
With Folkehuset VØ, we want to build on the current values of the good life in Thy. The old school in the middle of Vorupør already houses Surf & Work – an entrepreneurial co-office space for locals, newcomers, and summer guests. There is the day care for children of age 1-5, and a fitness center for the active. Furthermore, the community kitchen and the former gym hall is used for social gatherings around food, play, dance, and other activities.
The buildings are old and need to be renovated and optimized. Therefore, it is time transform the old school into a place for social community with cultural, creative, and sporty events and activities both inside and outside in the courtyard. We want to build spaces that inspires and creates a natural flow and meetings between people.
With its location on the west coast, Vorupør is an important steppingstone for unique green and blue nature experiences. From Vorupør you have easy access to water, beach, dunes, forests and beautiful lakes in Thy National Park. We have given Folkehuset VØ the metaphorical tagline ‘The Third Lighthouse’, because Vorupør is located between Hanstholm Lighthouse and Lodbjerg Lighthouse, and we want to create an architectural expression in the old school that brings thoughts to a lighthouse.
Vorupør – A fisher and surfer town
Vorupør is a place for people of all ages, a cozy and family friendly town with approx. 700 inhabitants, and a daily visits of 10,000+ guests during summer peak. Vorupør cherish the traditional way of fishing, and you will see the big ships on the beach. Surfers are often seen on the water all year round, and with annual activities and events, Vorupør is a popular destination to visit.
Experiences at nature destinations, such as Vorupør, have a certain weather dependency, which helps to limit the distribution of tourists outside the high season. July and August are the high season months, and by having a local community house we can extend the season and make it interesting and attractive to live and visit all year.
The communities must live while we build
With a well-functioning day care for children, a fully booked co-office space, a well-visited fitness center, and lots of events in the community kitchen, there has already been evidence of a great interest in using the buildings that are available. Today, the activities are targeted the people who already have their daily walk in the buildings. It is often the same group of people who meet for communal dining, and it is office tenants at Surf & Work who participate in their events.
We want to offer an extended program that invites even more people to take part in the communities, take part in democratic organizations in the city, and make it fun to be involved in different volunteering ways.
Based on a series of citizen meetings, it was mapped that the citizens dream of an indoor activity program that includes shared meals, creative workshops with knitting, ceramics and painting. Where there are courses in design, programming and other digital skills, film and game nights, bingo, theatre, concerts and much more.
The citizens dream of an outdoor activity program that includes flea markets, ‘farmers’ market’, outdoor training and surf skating, summer parties, harvest parties, Christmas tree lighting and many more community-oriented events.
We dream of creating one integrated community house, where the individual buildings are architecturally tied together. We dream of a unifying the buildings to bring together different groups of people and support the further development of communities.
Thank you for supporting
If you want to support the project with a donation, please find the donation box at MENY or at the school entrance.
MENY Vorupør
Vesterhavsgade 44
7700 Thisted, Vorupør
Download the Danish project description via the link below:
