The 160-year-old Vridsløselille Prison is facing a major transformation. Albertslund Municipality and Freja Ejendomme have initiated the development of the 160,000 m2 prison area and have invited Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects in collaboration with STED – urban and landscape to be one of five teams in an architectural competition.

It has been four years since the last of the Vridsløselille inmates left the prison that has served as such for more than 150 years. A prison that is also famous as a central backdrop in the Danish film series Olsen Banden.

The old prison was handed over to the state property firm Freja Ejendomme in 2019. In collaboration with the Municipality of Albertslund they have now taken the first development step of the area and the iconic buildings with an architectural competition. They have invited five teams to participate, including Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects in collaboration with STED – urban and landscape.

“We are proud to contribute. The transformation of a closed, introverted prison area into an open, vibrant and sustainable neighborhood is a unique task. We are going to deliver a proposal that respect history and naturally opens up to the city of Albertslund, which has developed around the prison since the late 1800s,” says Torsten Stephensen, partner at Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, who also transforms the iconic and former National Aquarium in Charlottenlund.

A new ‘prison town’ of housing and businesses