Turning philanthropy into social infrastructure that connects physical space with community life
As part of Realdania’s 25th anniversary, Our Place aimed to strengthen local communities across Denmark through the distribution of 150 new meeting places. Gehl was entrusted with leading the process of translating this ambitious philanthropic vision into tangible, high-quality, and scalable design solutions rooted in community needs.
Gehl structured and facilitated a holistic design process — from prequalification and competition to a four-month integrated design phase uniting four architect and design teams. By bringing architects, engineers, sustainability experts, manufacturers, communities, and the client into one shared development platform, we ensured alignment between social ambition, technical feasibility, and circular principles. This approach positioned the meeting places not just as physical interventions, but as connectors between space and social life – enabling everyday encounters, local engagement, and community-driven use.
The core challenge was to design a limited series of meeting places flexible enough to meet the needs of 150 diverse communities. Through iterative collaboration and cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing, the design teams developed four adaptable concepts that balance simplicity, identity, and long-term durability.
The result was four scalable meeting place typologies — The Community Roof, The Nature Base, The Workshop, and The Outdoor Living Room — designed for circular material use, local ownership, and lasting social impact. Together, they transform a one-time anniversary initiative into enduring community infrastructure.
