Architecture firm Henning Larsen has just unveiled the new Højvangen church in Skanderborg, Denmark. It is a balance of community gathering and the spiritual needs of a modern church. Nestled in the woodland on the outskirts of the city, this is the first church built in this town for over five centuries. The main goal was to create a modern church that would feel spiritual but also function as a community center.

Henning Larsen global design director Greta Tiedje explained to Dezeen, “In Denmark, the church is often a civic anchor as much as a sacred space. The design operates across three scales: it completes the town’s ecclesiastical timeline as the third church built over 500 years, it responds to the open, wooded site, where it stands like a quiet clearing, and it forms an intimate interior shaped by warm materials and filtered light. The result is a space for reflection, gathering and encounter.”

Image Credit: Rasmus Hjortshøj