REGAN Vest
Architect: AART
Location: Rold Skov, Denmark
Type: Cultural
Year: 2024
Photographs: AART, Rasmus Hjortshøj /Coast Studio
The Cold War bunker REGAN Vest was kept a state secret for many decades. Now the bunker opens to the public, thanks to realization of new Danish Cold War Museum. The construction comprises four black boxes hidden deep inside Rold Skov in Northern Jutland, inspired by the decades-long mystery surrounding Denmark’s most secret bunker nestled 60 metres underground.
The last bastion of democracy
The following description is courtesy of the architects. REGAN West is the country’s best-preserved Cold War bunker, built in secret in the 1960s to house the government, civil service and the Royal House. The aim was to preserve Danish democracy for as long as possible in the event of a third world war, and REGAN Vest was thus the last bastion of Danish democracy for decades – if the bunker was taken by the enemy, Denmark fell.
The bunker has been a well-kept state secret for decades, hidden away 60 metres below the earth’s surface in Rold Skov, and until a few years ago it was still a secret. But with the opening of the new museum, visitors now have access to the bunker, the site’s original lighthouse keeper’s residence and a new exhibition building, designed by AART, that will create a comprehensive narrative about REGAN Vest, its important democratic function and the role and lives of Danes during the Cold War.
“The Cold War Museum REGAN Vest is an utterly unique place, which will create framework for a very central story i Danish history — a story that is still relevant and important in this day and age.” – Anders Tyrrestrup / Founding Partner and Architect, AART
Black boxes
On the surface, the reception and exhibition building will be the only visible manifestation of the new Cold War museum. Built as four black boxes, the building is tucked deep inside the forest. Solid and reclusive, the boxes appear on the landscape as almost hermetically sealed display cases where only a discreet retraction in the facade indicates the entrance to the museum. The boxes are clad in anodized aluminum, giving them their own unique weather-resistant structure. Their appearance plays distinctively with the surrounding landscape, which houses one of Denmark’s best kept secrets – the 5,500 square-meter nuclear-proof bunker built to house the Danish regent and the government in case of war.
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“The boxes do not reveal their content and piqué the curiosity of the visitors right from the arrival. Thus, the boxes inscribe themselves into the complete experience for the visitor — an experience characterized by its distinctive mystic and historical secrecy all the way through.” – Anders Tyrrestrup / Founding Partner, AART
The ultimate focal point
REGAN Vest is tangible proof of the threat felt during the Cold War and is the museum’s ultimate focal point. In the heart of the reception and exhibition building is a scale model of the impressive underground bunker. The reception and exhibition building has been built so that the flow of visitors centers around the model, and from this central area, visitors get an overview of and easy access to the museum’s many features, including the exhibition sections and assembly point for guided tours to REGAN Vest.
Perspectives on the Cold War
The reception and exhibition building contain seven exhibition sections that engage visitors and provide different perspectives on the Cold War – from the fear of nuclear weapons to the sharply drawn political fronts and war scenarios, should the war break out. It is all staged to create continuity between the individual exhibition sections, while allowing visitors to move freely between each one and thus create their own experience.
Project Details
- Location: Rold Skov, Denmark
- Size: 1,200 m2
- Client: Nordjyske Museer
- Competition: Winning proposal in project competition in 2020
- Status: Completed in 2023
- Architect: AART
- Engineer: Niras
- Exhibition architect: Thøgersen & Stouby
- Landscape architect: SLA
- Photos: AART / Rasmus Hjortshøj, Coast Studio
