Improving the quality of life

Musholm has been designed as a multifunctional powerhouse, where holiday homes and a variety of shared facilities give people with disabilities the opportunity to lead an active life. This is especially true of the multi-purpose hall, where a 110-metre long activity ramp encourages physical activity. With its landings and recreational zones, the ramp brings the visitors up onto a plateau where wheelchair users can engage in activities such as trying their hands at a climbing wall and the world’s first cable-lift for wheelchair users. In that way, Musholm becomes a place that gets people moving, no matter their disabilities, and gives them the opportunity to play, have experiences and form new social bonds.

No less than 38 people with mobility disabilities in Denmark are physically inactive. This is equivalent to 95,000 people in Denmark, and the consequences of a life without exercise and movement are striking. After adjusting for smoking, alcohol and obesity, physical inactivity costs up to 6 years of life and upwards of 10 extra years of illness, and the many complications associated with physical activity result in 710,000 additional doctor’s visits and 280,000 somatic outpatient hospital visits every single year. On an annual basis, this corresponds to extra costs of DKK 5.3 billion just for treatment and care in Denmark.

Musholm accordingly tackles a major societal challenge, aiming to show how architecture can promote physical activity for people regardless of their disabilities. Every second person with a disability highlights their physical surroundings as the primary barrier to living an active life. Musholm therefore serves as an example of how one can remove physical barriers so that buildings and urban spaces increasingly embrace the differences that make us human - not by smoothing out those differences, but instead by being more inclusive.

Making a social difference comes with major socio-economic implications. As already touched on, the physical environment of people with disabilities is crucial to their ability to lead an active life. And if, through a focused intervention - where Musholm can serve as an example - one could increase the activity levels of people with disabilities to the same levels of people without disabilities, that would be the equivalent of helping 45,000 people move from an inactive to an active life. Even after revising that figure down to 35,000 - which is more accurate as some are so physically disabled that they are unable to exercise - Danish society would save more than DKK 300 million a year on healthcare costs.