Friis & Moltke

Friis & Moltke is a Danish architectural practice headquartered in Aarhus with branch offices in Copenhagen and Aalborg. Friis & Moltke has about 50 employees and is mainly active in the Scandinavian market. The firm was founded in 1955 by the architects Knud Friis and Elmar Moltke Nielsen who met while working at C. F. Møller Architects in Aarhus. Today the company has 6 partners and 1 associated partner responsible for the department of furniture design.

Selected projects

Friis & Moltke has designed many celebrated buildings across Denmark. The projects covers a multitude of functionalities including residential, educational, stadiums, churches, shopping malls, prisons, city halls, concert halls and hotels. A selection of the most notable comprise the following:

[Aarhus]

Hotel Marselis, 1967
Scanticon, Skåde, 1969
Risskov Gymnasium, 1969
Grøfthøjhuset, Viby J, 1970
Nordgårdskolen, Brabrand, 1970
Vestervang, 1970
Skjoldhøj Kollegiet, 1973
Ellevang Church, 1974
Langkær Gymnasium, Tilst, 1975
Skjoldhøj Church, 1983
Skelager Church, 1990
Scandinavian Center, 1992

;Near Aarhus

Odder City Hall, Odder, 1971
Skanderborg Gymnasium, Skanderborg, 1973
Silkeborg Gymnasium, Silkeborg, 1977

[Aalborg]

Aalborg Stadion, 2002
University College Nordjylland, 2003
Gigantium, 2005
Musikkens Hus, 2014

[Zealand]

Vordingborg Uddannelsescenter, Vordingborg 1980
Grønnevang Church, Hillerød, 2008

Other places

Vestjydsk Handelsskole, Skjern, 1965
Hotel Lakolk, Rømø, 1966
Entreprenørskolen, Ebeltoft, 1968
Viborg Gymnasium og HF, Viborg, 1974
Hotel Nyborg Strand, Nyborg, 1977
Radisson SAS H.C. Andersen Hotel, Odense, 1980
Morsø Rådhus, Nykøbing Mors, 1980
Herning Kongrescenter, Herning, 1982
Øer Maritime Ferieby, Ebeltoft, 1988
Statsfængslet Østjylland, Horsens, 2001
Holstebro Police Station, Holstebro, 2016

Friis & Moltke has been notable architects of the so-called brutalist architecture, a specific branch of the much broader modernist movement. Brutalism had its heyday in the 1960s and 70s, and noteworthy examples from Friis & Moltke includes Hotel Lakolk, Entreprenørskolen, Scanticon Skåde and Odder City Hall in particular. Outside Denmark, the Siemens Global Leadership Center, and associated guest hotel, from 1974 is a prize-winning example of Friis & Moltke's architecture of the brutalist era.

Outside Denmark

Friis & Moltke is also active outside Denmark with notable and prize-winning architecture:

Embassy of Denmark in Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Siemens Global Leadership Center, Feldafing, Germany
Alter Hafen, Wismar, Germany
Dublin Waste to Energy, Poolbeg Peninsula, Ireland
Strømme Senter, Kristiansand, Norway
Ny Anstalt i Nuuk, Nuuk, Greenland