Mønsted Limestone Mines

Mønsted Limestone Mines is a landscape of rare significance – shaped by geology, cultural history, and centuries of human exploitation. The masterplan has had one primary goal: to make this hilly, complex terrain accessible to everyone, without compromising the site’s unique character.

Here, accessibility is not an after-thought, but a fundamental design principle. The paths, made of in-situ cast, broom-finished concrete, follow the natural curves of the landscape with minimal regulation. The topography is refined with precision to create a landscape route where persons with limited mobility and wheel chair users can move freely – without perceiving technical adjustments as foreign elements.

The new landscape route is woven into the limestone terrain’s narrative: open and closed quarries, sink holes, and spoil heaps appear both as dramatic landscape spaces and as historical traces. Along the way, the route is crossed by a sculptural bridge designed by Erik Heide, which integrates respectfully into the context while adding a sensuous architectural gesture.

Point of arrival is centered around the former outbuilding, which has been transformed into a café, ticket office, and education space – a new communal hub inviting visitors to settele and extend their stay.

The project demonstrates how accessibility can be both function and form, and how it can become a poetic device that unfolds a historic landscape to the people – without diminishing its authenticity.

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