CF Møller transforms psychiatric hospital in Denmark into museum

Danish studio CF Møller has completed the Mind Museum on the island of Funen in Denmark, guided by the "clear spatial structure" of the former psychiatric hospital it occupies.

Located in the town of Middelfart, the Mind Museum tells the history of psychiatry in Denmark and the early 19th-century hospital itself.

CF Møller's ambition was to preserve the bulk of the building, which dates back to 1888, "allowing the existing architecture to remain a central part of the museum".

This involved retaining and restoring the exterior while improving circulation and functionality and adapting the building to meet modern-day regulations.

"The brief was to transform one of the original patient buildings from 1888 at the former psychiatric hospital in Middelfart into Mind Museum while retaining as much as possible of the building's original character and clear spatial structure," studio partner Rune Bjerno Nielsen told Dezeen.

"The institution remained in operation until 1999, so the building is not simply a historic setting for the museum, it is part of the history the museum is interpreting," he continued.

"That gives the museum an authenticity that would have been impossible to recreate elsewhere. Visitors are encountering psychiatric history in the place where that history actually unfolded."

The original building was part of a wider hospital complex originally designed as "a small town" with ample access to daylight and greenery, according to CF Møller.

It is one of six buildings of its kind that remain in Denmark, though only one is still used as a psychiatric hospital.

Inside, Mind Museum contains exhibition areas, public facilities such as a cafe, and meeting and activity spaces. Architectural designer Kumulus Agency oversaw the exhibition areas.

The museum is not only used for learning, but also as a meeting place for people and organisations dedicated to mental health and wellbeing.

"Mind Museum is not intended only as somewhere you consume information; it is a place where people can meet, talk, pause and reflect," said Nielsen. "That helps create a more open setting for subjects that can otherwise be difficult to approach."

According to CF Møller, the organisation of Mind Museum deliberately builds on the existing structure rather than reconfiguring it.

Visitors enter through the reinstated original main entrance, with stairs to the exhibition areas and ticket zone. For Nielsen, this is the highlight of the project.

"The reinstated historic entrance brings visitors back into the building through its original point of arrival," he reflected.

"It condenses the whole transformation into a relatively small part of the building: the historic architecture remains clearly present, but a few contemporary interventions completely change how you understand and move through it."

The ground floor is designed to have "the strongest connection to the original hospital", with a material and colour palette that draws on its original design. Here, the exhibition spaces tell the story of the original building.

Above, the first floor has a deliberately contrasting character, with lighter and more contemporary finishes. Exhibits explore present-day issues and questions around psychiatry and mental wellbeing.

Here, exhibition areas are dotted between former patient rooms, through which new openings have been created to give physical and visual links.

"The historic layer stays on the ground floor, where visitors step into history, and the upper floor is designed for variation and contemporary storytelling," explained Nielsen.

"Visitors move between spaces with different atmospheres and intensities, rather than through one continuous exhibition environment."

Completing the project is a basement that now functions as a series of spaces for group activities hosted by specialist associations and community groups. To avoid a feeling of being underground, light finishes are prioritised, and textiles and furniture add warmth and comfort.

These basement rooms link to a network of underground tunnels around the hospital complex, which will one day be opened up as a visitor route called the MindWalk.

A sculpture garden has also been added outside of the building.

Throughout the museum, the interiors are unified by what CF Møller called a "robust and relatively restrained" material palette that simultaneously differentiates between old and new.

New architectural elements, such as staircases and openings, are lined in oiled oak, chosen for its warmth and tactility.

CF Møller is a Danish architecture studio founded by Christian Frederik Møller in 1924.

Its other recent projects include a Finnish psychiatric clinic that embodies the principles of "healing architecture" and the overhaul of the spherical Avicii Arena in Stockholm to "ensure its relevance for decades to come".

The photography is by Kirstine Mengel.

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