Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects designed this theatre complex in Hjørring, Denmark, as a series of Corten steel cubes, but has covered some of the rusty walls behind a layer of frosted glass.

The 4,200-square-metre Vendsyssel Theatre and Experience Centre includes a music hall, rehearsal hall, a 430-seat theatre, and a workshop and dressing rooms arranged in several rectilinear blocks.

Some of the volumes in panels of Corten ? a type of pre-rusted steel, also known as weathering steel. Some of these surfaces are covered in frosted glass, with colour-changing LED lights sandwiched in between.

The Danish firm, which won a competition in 2013 to design the cultural complex, chose the mixture of materials as a reference to the brick and plaster facades that typify Hjørring's surrounding architecture.
"It is our ambition that the building will manifest itself as a new living organism in the cityscape," said architect John Foldbjerg Lassen.
"It is a building which stands by its cultural significance and which dares to be different without taking focus away from the town's existing qualities."

The plaza in front of the building is intended as a venue for different types of events and activities, as are the open-plan lobby and large staircase.
"Space has been created for both scheduled and ad-hoc events outside at the plaza, inside the foyer and on the grand staircase where visitors can choose to be spectators or even participates in ...