For almost 30 years, the ARKEN museum, has been stranded at Køge Bay Beach Park in Ishøj. Over the years, this seaside building has been exposed to both the sun, sea fog and salty winds blowing from the bay.
Not surprisingly, time had put its impression on the concrete surfaces. The white color had faded, and in many places the paint was missing. Shadows had appeared on the facade where there had been works of art hanging on the exterior.
Concrete glaze over paint
The museum was looking after a collaborator who could restore the glory of ancient times and bring the building back to its original appearance, as architect Søren Robert Lund had thought, when at the age of 25, he won the architectural contest with his odd angles and deconstructive style.
The collaborator became All Remove, which, rather than using ordinary paint, creates colorful facades with concrete glaze. Concrete glaze is a color impregnation that rejects water, oil, dirt and contamination - in other words, the right treatment for a building like ARKEN, which is exposed to wind and weather between the coast and dunes.
A white ship drops the anchor
The treatment began with a cleaning of the old paint. A more complex job that required lifts, scaffolds and high-pressure cleaners and was performed in the sometimes biting winds of the ocean.
Subsequently, the 2,000 m2 concrete was impregnated with white glazing containing 95% color pigment. Impregnation creates a lean, clean surface on the facades and ensures that dirt that is carried in with the wind does not stick. The protection also makes it more likely that the dirt is rinsed when it rains.
ARKEN is now again white as snow and appears as a unique, luminous sculpture, inviting curious art enthusiasts inside for exciting exhibits of modern art.
