100-year-old greenhouses given new life

In the middle of Copenhagen, just behind the central station and the rail racks, between old trees and blackberry bushes, a piece of land with barns has laid quietly since the 1950’s. Until a few years ago, when a group of entrepreneurs got together to restore and rebuild the area, and Banegaarden (The Railway Station) was born. A new food and culture mekka in Copenhagen with a sustainable agenda of reusing and recycling every single component. Every single fridge, window, piece of wood has had a purpose before – hardly anything at Banegaarden is new, but everything is useful.

The newest addition to the ecological village is Væksthuset (Greenhouse). A new event and educational space at Banegården - made up by two 100-year old propagation greenhouses from Copenhagen Botanical Gardens. The greenhouses were merely days away from demolition, but were saved at the very last minute by the owners of Banegaarden. Some of the construction could be re-used, but 100-year-old greenhouses need a bit of an upgrade before they’re ready to be put to use again.

 

SIF Gruppen, a Danish installer company, was chosen to install the electricity in Væksthuset – and the brief was simple: the most sustainable solutions possible were preferred. Due to SIF Gruppen’s already well-established sustainability agenda, they already had a list of suppliers with a like-minded sustainability view - and NKT was one of those.

“Asking if NKT wanted to deliver the cables for Væksthuset, was a pretty simple choice. NKT has the same mindset as us and is working towards creating products with a reduced CO₂-impact – and they can actually document their products’ CO₂ and sustainability footprint. Furthermore, NKT produces their products in Europe - and we speak the same language when it comes to the future” – says Christian Lui Polte, Service Manager at SIF Gruppen

 

The transition from greenhouse to event space requires new cabling. NKT has delivered all the cables needed to install lighting and electricity in Væksthuset, so it can live up to the needs and regulations of a modern society.

“We’ve been on board with this project from the second we got the call. SIF is one of our great customers and we collaborate on a number of sustainable projects, so this was a no-brainer for us. We have cables that are listed and can be included in sustainable buildings, so we delivered cables and Qaddy for the project” – says Henrik Sørensen, Key Account Manager at NKT.

Both SIF Gruppen and NKT are experiencing an increasing demand for sustainable products from their customers. In some areas, choosing the sustainable solution may not be the cheapest or easiest option, but when it comes to NKT cables, all our cables are produced on 100% renewable electricity so the price doesn’t go up when choosing the most sustainable cable option. The world becomes more and more aware of the challenges ahead and Væksthuset will help speed up that trend as the greenhouse will be a vital learning space for both children and grownups about climate change – and how to prevent it.