Viby Hallen coffee table

11.000 DKK

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Viby Hallen 2

Viby Hallen is a sports hall on the outskirts of Århus, Denmark. Many players of the Denmark national handball team have jumped, thrown, sweated and scored goals on these floors. In the 1980's the hall management laid a new floor directly on top of the original floor from the 1950's. History lies before you and here is a small selection of Denmark national handball players that have played for Viby:

Men's teams

1953/65 Mogens Olsen: 71 International matches/295 goals

1959/64 Egon Jensen: 31 International matches/71 goals

1973/80 Heine Sørensen: 61 International matches/128 goals

1976/81 Ole Nørskov Sørensen: 66 International matches/0 goals and 1980 Olympics

Women's teams

1978/83 Tina Flensborg Madsen: 59 International matches/81 goals

1982/86 Lise B. Jensen: 72 International matches/170 goals

1988/01 Janne Kolling: 250 International matches/756 goals and gold medals at 1996 and 2000 Olympics

1996/99 Lone Mathiesen: 22 International matches/37 goals

Badminton shuttlecock in the zig-zag steel pipe legs of the Viby Hallen coffee table.

Badminton shuttlecock in the Viby Hallen coffee table.

Red and green court stripes on the Viby Hallen coffee table.

Specifications

Size: L 100 x W 100 x H 53 cm (custom height no max.)
Surface treatment: OSMO hard wax oil
Materials: Pine sports hall flooring in two layers, steel pipes and epoxy Imperfections: Bottom floor layer is from the 1950's. Top layer believed to be 1980's, so yes

Nele in Viby Hallen planning the next cut of the sports hall floor

Viby Hallen sports hall floor with missing pieces and a pull cart with layers of the cut out flooring.

The process

Getting in touch with a contracting company that specialises in sports hall flooring I was able to be put in contact with the project manager responsible for the replacement project in Viby Hallen. It had to be on a specific Friday in June 2020, because the last badminton training would be on the Thursday and all the floor would be chopped out, without mercy on the Saturday. So my friend and I were at the doors of Viby Hallen at 8 am. I drew up the lines for what I wanted cut out and the carpenter cut out the pieces with his plunge saw. It was difficult to get some of them up, requiring the use of a crowbar.

Each colour is a different court and green is the badminton court. I found that shuttlecocks are an excellent size and a creative shape to use in the design of the legs, and I contacted the local badminton club to get a stash of used shuttlecocks that also represent the wear and tear. The time it takes to make 1 shuttlecock is about 1 week, from the initial epoxy pour to pulling it from the mould. Thereafter sanding, polishing and drilling.

I wanted to preserve the wear and tear of the years past, so a fresh layer of lacquer was out of the question. I chose a durable hard wax oil that would give some sheen yet preserve the colour of the worn areas. The OSMO hard wax oil that I use is approved for children's toys, so there is no need to worry if your child decides to do a taste test.