Hindsgavl Castle - a living heritage site
Hindsgavl Castle is an impressive manor and former royal estate, situated on a beautiful peninsula west of Middelfart on the Danish island of Funen.
The manor dates back to the thirteenth century, although the current buildings are from about 1784. Today, Hindsgavl is a modern conference centre hosting an abundance of different events.
Hindsgavl is owned by Realdania Byg, and careful restoration has transformed the buildings into a living heritage site which conveys the captivating cultural history of the place. In summer, Hindsgavl stages one of the most exclusive, innovative festivals for classical music. And the vast surrounding park is situated right on Little Belt, one of the most beautiful stretches of water in Denmark.
The outbuildings have been sensitively converted into a charming conference venue which also offers overnight accommodation. Architects from E+N Arkitektur – formerly Exners Tegnestue – were behind the restoration of the three wings, which took a total of seven years.
The enormous volume of the great aisled barn has been reopened to house the conference hall and restaurant catering for the two hotel wings known as the Piggery and the Cowshed. For more than 200 years, the cowshed housed the estate’s herd of dairy cows. It has now been converted into 23 hotel rooms and a conference room on the first floor. The rooms are constructed from old recycled bricks in an open, airy interior design. A bright barrel-vaulted ceiling holds the room together, projecting indirect light down along the walls.
The conversion of the Piggery is based on the same design concept as the Cowshed. To mark the distinction between the buildings, the interior design of the rooms in the converted herdsman’s house is brighter, however. In both hotel wings, charcoal grey Troldtekt acoustic panels have been installed in strategically important places, including in the long corridors and adjoining stairwells where the material forms a beautiful contrast with the natural brick walls.
Troldtekt lighting is elegantly integrated as spotlights. They illuminate the corridors leading to the rooms, and which have little daylight. In the more open, light stairwells, the spotlights effectively supplement the decorative Mignon pendant lamps, designed by Exner.
In 2012, Hindsgavl Castle was awarded Middelfart Municipality’s architectural prize for its highly successful refurbishment and transformation of the former farm buildings into a modern hotel and conference centre.
