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Akvariet

A new cultural gathering place for gastronomy, wellbeing, learning and community - set within a greener, car-free Charlottenlund Palace Park.

A historic place with a new chapter in development

For generations, the former Danish National Aquarium was a place of discovery, learning and shared experiences.

Since closing in 2012, the building has remained empty while both the structure and its surroundings have deteriorated.

Fournais’ vision is to bring new life to this important cultural site – creating an open and welcoming destination for community, culture, wellbeing and gastronomy, set within a greener, car-free Charlottenlund Palace Park.

The ambition is not simply to recreate the past, but to carry its significance forward in a meaningful new form.

Akvariet is currently in development and dialogue with the relevant authorities and stakeholders.

We look forward to sharing more about the architecture, programme and future of the project as the vision progresses.

A Place for People

Akvariet will become a living gathering place with experiences and activities throughout the year.

    Culture & Ideas

    Talks, exhibitions and cultural experiences will bring new perspectives to life and create space for curiosity, learning and conversation. Akvariet will be a place where people of all ages can meet, exchange ideas and engage with culture, science, nature and the world around us.

    Health & Movement

    Akvariet will offer spaces and experiences that support physical and mental wellbeing. Movement, reflection and time in nature will become part of a place designed to help people reconnect – with themselves, with others and with the surrounding landscape.

    Food & Gastronomy

    The restaurant will be rooted in exceptional ingredients, responsible choices and Fournais’ soil-to-table philosophy. Food will connect guests with the seasons, the landscape and the origins of what they eat - creating experiences where quality, knowledge and enjoyment come together.

    Community & Experiences

    Akvariet will be an open and welcoming gathering place for local residents, families and visitors. Through shared experiences, events and year-round activities, it will bring new life to the area and create stronger connections between people, place and community.

A Letter from Our Founder

For most of my life, I have been driven by curiosity.
Curiosity about people, business, nature and how things work – but perhaps even more importantly, how they could work better.

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to build successful businesses. Success, however, has a way of changing the questions you ask yourself. At some point, it is no longer about what else you can build. It becomes about what you want to leave behind.

That question became the beginning of Fournais.

Not because I wanted to create another company, but because I wanted to create places that demonstrate a different way forward. Places where nature, business and people are no longer seen as separate, but as parts of the same living system.
For too long, we have accepted the idea that protecting nature requires sacrifice – that responsibility comes at the expense of comfort, beauty or quality of life. I have never believed that. I believe the opposite.

When we work with nature instead of against it, everything becomes stronger.

Healthier landscapes produce healthier food. Thriving ecosystems create resilient communities. Beautiful places inspire people to care for them. Responsible businesses can restore far more than they consume.

When I first came to Vejrø, it was a forgotten island. The buildings were deteriorating, nature had been neglected and opportunities had disappeared. It reminded me that decline is rarely inevitable – it is simply the result of countless decisions made over time. If that is true, then regeneration is also a decision. One made every single day.

Today, Vejrø tells a different story. Not because the work is finished, but because every year the island becomes healthier, richer and more alive than the year before. To me, that is the true meaning of regeneration. Not perfection, but continuous improvement.

That philosophy now guides everything we do at Fournais. Whether we restore landscapes in Denmark, cultivate ancient olive groves in Mallorca, develop renewable energy systems, create places for hospitality and wellbeing, or establish environments where knowledge can be tested and shared, I do not see separate businesses. I see one connected ecosystem, where soil, water, energy, food, biodiversity, human health and knowledge constantly influence one another.

Nature has always understood this. Perhaps it is time that we do too.

Fournais exists to explore what becomes possible when we stop treating nature as a resource and begin recognising it as the system that sustains us. Not through theories or promises, but through real places that people can experience. Places where ideas become landscapes. Where agriculture restores biodiversity. Where energy creates resilience. Where hospitality contributes to wellbeing. And where every project becomes an opportunity to learn, improve and inspire others.

My hope has never been to build something extraordinary for ourselves. It has always been to build something meaningful that others can learn from.

If Fournais can help demonstrate that healthier ecosystems, stronger communities and better businesses are not competing ambitions, but outcomes of the same well-designed system, then we have achieved something worthwhile.

Because I believe the future is not something we inherit.
It is something we cultivate.

Kim Fournais
Founder, Fournais

JORD

Book bord

Vegetariske retter er markeret med et (v)
Vegetarian dishes are marked with a (v).

Alle priser i Danske Kroner
All prices are in DKK incl. VAT

Der tage forbehold for ændring i menuen, da den følger sæsonens grøntsager
We reserve the right to make changes to the menu, as it follows the season’s vegetables.

RESTAURANT JORD 

Vi arbejder i øjeblikket på at forbedre menuen til JORD med afsæt i en kompromisløs jord-til-bord-filosofi.

Råvarerne dyrkes, høstes og forædles med respekt for naturens rytme – grøntsager fra Vejrøs marker, kød fra øens dyr, friskfanget fisk, vilde urter og fermenterede elementer fra eget køkken.

Fermentering, ild og langsom tilberedning er bærende teknikker. Menuen formes af sæsonen og det, jorden giver os netop nu.

Det, der gror her, serveres her.