The Port & City Development Corporation Urban development – in Ørestad and in the harbour areas of Copenhagen
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The Port & City Development Corporation
Urban development – in Ørestad and in the harbour areas of Copenhagen
Contents
Foreword
Port of Copenhagen
Main tasks and focus areas
Søndre Frihavn
“Critical mass”
Langelinie
The pier-head as a landmark
Langelinie today
Amerika Plads
The DFDS Terminal
“Kobbertårnet”
Nordhavnen
Kalkbrænderihavnen
A public beach
Indre Nordhavn
Public transport
Harbour activities
Inderhavnen
Kvæsthusbroen
Christiansholm
Sydhavnen
Havneholmen and Gasværksholmen
Bryggebroen
Enghave Brygge
Teglholmen
Sluseholmen
Havneparken
Havnestaden
Islands Brygge Syd
A new urban quarter
South of Sjællandsbroen
Østhavnen/Prøvestenen
Ørestad Development Corporation
Ørestad – a central city quarter in the Sound region
The founding of the Ørestad Development Corporation
The general Ørestad plan
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The first projects
Art in Ørestad
The four quarters of Ørestad
Residents in Ørestad
Schools and day care centres
Ørestad Nord
Bikuben Kollegiet
Karen Blixen Parken
The Housing Snake”
Københavns Universitet Amager KUA
Tietgenkollegiet
The IT University
DR Byen
The concert hall
The Amager Fælled Quarter
Ørestad City
Ferring International Center
Field’s
VM Husene
VM Bjerget
KLP
Ørestad Down Town
Around Ørestad City Park
Signalhuset
Ørestad Gymnasium
Ørestad Syd
New urban places and spaces
A unique quarter
Hannemanns Allé
EUROPAN
Copenhagen Towers
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The Port & City Development Corporation I/S was founded on the 26th of Octo-ber 2007. The new corporation is responsible for the development of areas in Copenhagen Harbour and Ørestad and for the maritime activities in the Port of Copenhagen. In connexion with the establishment of the Corporation, Port of Copenhagen Ltd. and the Ørestad Development Corporation I/S were discon-tinued.
With the present document we wish to take stock of the parts of the last 10 years’ development of Copenhagen to which the Port of Copenhagen Ltd. and the Ørestad Development Corporation have contributed. We look back on the projects that the two corporations have assisted in launching, and we look at the projects waiting to be launched by The Port & City Development Corporation in the time to come.
The ambitions of the new Corporation are very high indeed: we want to create urban districts of international class – vibrant with life. Neighbourhoods that are attractive to live in, and work in, and that are also exciting to visitors. Also in fifty years’ time. And in a hundred years’ time.
Jens Kramer MikkelsenManaging Director
The Port & City Development Corporation I/S
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Port of Copenhagen
Svanemøllehavnen
Svaneknoppen
Kalk
bræ
nder
ihav
nen
Færgehavn Nord
Orientbassinet
Skudeløbet
Kronløbsbassinet
Nordbassinet
Middelgrund
Trekroner
Yderhavnen
Lang
elin
ieN
dr. T
oldb
od
Lynettehavnen
Færgeterminal
Deponeringsplads
Østhavnen
Prøve
stens
havn
en
MargretheholmenNyholm
Frederiksholm
Arsenaløen
Dokøen
Kvæ
sthu
sgra
ven
Nyhavn
Kvæ
sthu
sbro
en
Lang
ebro
Knippe
lsbro
Chris
tians
holm
Chris
tians
havn
s Kan
al
Kastellet
IslandsBrygge
Christianshavn
KalvebodBrygge
Gasværks
havnen
Tømmergraven
Sydh
avne
n
Teglholmen
AmagerFælled
Teglværks-havnen
Frederiksholmsløbet
Sluse
løbet
Fiskerhavnen
Sjællandsbroen
Kalveb
odløb
et
Nordhavnsområdet
Frihavnen
Svanemøllebugten
Sdr.Frihavn
Refshaleøen
Øresund
Kronløbet
Prøvestenen
Kongedybet
Inderhavnen
Amager
Fiskerihavn
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.8
4.6
4.7
4.5
5.
3.13.2
2.2
1.21.1
2.1 2.3
1. Søndre Frihavn
1.1 Langelinie
1.2 Amerika Plads
2. Nordhavnen
2.1 Kalkbrænderihavnen
2.2 Indre Nordhavn
2.3 Øvrige Nordhavn
3. Inderhavnen
3.1 Kvæsthusbroen
3.2 Christiansholm
4. Sydhavnen
4.1 Havneholmen og Gasværkshavnen
4.2 Enghave Brygge
4.3 Teglholmen
4.4 Sluseholmen
4.5 Havneparken
4.6 Havnestaden
4.7 Islands Brygge Syd
4.8 Karens Minde
5. Østhavnen/Prøvestenen
Plan of the areas in Copenhagen Harbour, where Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has been involved in various projects. All areas marked in the chart are mentioned in the description of Port of Copenhagen.
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Main tasks and focus areas
Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. had two main tasks: the manage-ment of a commercial harbour and urban development. This appears from legislation on the establishment in 1992.
Since 2001 the activities in the commercial harbour have been managed jointly by Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and Malmö Hamn A/B through the company Copenhagen Malmö Port AB (CMP). The establishment of this coopera-tion created both a Danish-Swedish port for the Øresund region and a point of departure for transport and logistics in Scandinavia and the Baltic.
Since the mid-1980s, the commercial harbour activities have been concentrated in Nordhavnen and at Prøvestenen in Østhavnen. Developments in the transport industry are among the causes of the radical change in the traffic in the port of Copenhagen. Container carriers set a new agenda for port management, and the environmental requirements have been changed. Modern port management has ren-dered old wharves and warehouses superfluous, but, at the same time, opened the possibility for additions to Copen-hagen of new urban quarters. The wish to develop some of the City’s most attractive waterfront sites was great. Combined, these elements were catalysts in the last 10 to 15 years’ rapid and extensive urban development.
Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has contributed actively to a number of the many new environments that have mush-roomed along the waterfront from about the middle of the 1990s till today. The development has involved both residen-tial and business environments, besides recreational areas.
In recent years, large parts of the planning of Copen-hagen Harbour reverted to the focus-area planning from 1999. The City of Copenhagen decided that a general plan should be prepared for Copenhagen Harbour, and in the summer of 1999 cooperation was established between Port of Copenhagen, Ltd., the City of Copenhagen, the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and Freja Ejendomme A/S.
The purpose of the general plan was to preserve the amenities of the harbour and protect the special character-istics of the individual area. The precise object of the co-operation was to define the guidelines for the development of Copenhagen Harbour and in that way ensure that a future conversion would result in urban districts and com-posite units of high quality.
The work to a high degree built on European experi-ence gleaned from, among other places, Paris, Hamburg and Amsterdam – indeed from modern Western ports, where industrial storehouses and freighters were in the process of disappearing. Especially the meetings of water and land, the possibilities of giving the public access to the harbour, and, connected with that, the creation of broad, high-
quality promenades along the water were pivotal in the work. The final report of the cooperation appeared in the
publication Kvalitetsbyggeri i Københavns Havn in 2001 (high-quality buildings in the Port of Copenhagen). The report takes as its starting point the segmentation of the harbour into three focus areas: Nordhavnen, Inderhavnen, and Sydhavnen.
Søndre Frihavn
The Søndre Frihavn area has undergone extensive urban development in recent years. Among other things, the devel-opment included construction on Midtermolen, Indiakaj, Capellakaj, the west side of Langelinie/Østkaj and the res-toration of Dahlerup’s warehouse. Along the east side of Dampfærgevej, Warehouses 11 and 12 have been renovat-ed together with Silo Warehouse B, today occupied by Dan-ish Regions. New housing and offices have been added.
The focus planning of 1999 concentrated on the area from Kastellet (the Tulip junction) to Nordbassinet and the areas around Dampfærgevej or Amerika Plads, as it is called today. The Dutch architectural firm West 8 from Rotterdam with urban planner Adriaan Geuze as its pro-fessional leader, was appointed to be in charge of the urban development. The fundamental ideas behind the development of this section of the harbour are large blocks as those seen at Østerbro (the neighbourhood to the west), “towers“ or tall buildings as the landmarks of the area, and the integration of maritime functions with hous-ing and business activities in a compact urban neighbour-
The original design for Søndre Frihavn by West 8, the Dutch architectural firm. The main elements consist of Amerika Plads as a very compact urban space, Midtermolen, prolonged by means of a small dock with residential buildings, the DFDS Terminal in connexion with Amerika Plads, and the development of Nordbassinet with residential buildings designed like floating row houses.
hood – the vision being, by means of this melange, to devel-op further a characteristic Copenhagen architecture.
“Critical mass”
The concept ‘critical mass “ has played an essential role for Adriaan Geuze in his endeavour to create a new and lively part of the city: Urban building must be compact and high. A city will never come alive unless the prerequisites for life are present. In order to thrive, shops, institutions, cafés, restaurants, etc. all require a sizable population as their foundation.
Langelinie
The Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has participated in the devel-opment of offices and housing at Langelinie, once a part of the original Frihavn (free port) from 1894. In 1999, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold building sites to NCC. The two sites closest to the head of the Langelinie Pier were sold to ATP Ejendomme, who in 2006 found two users, Bech-Bruun, the law firm, and FIH Erhvervsbank, the merchant bankers, who are both located in the neighbourhood, and in need of more space.
ATP are planning an architectural competition for the last undeveloped site in the area. The competition was launched in 2007. ATP and the City of Copenhagen are united in the wish to include the other sites at the head of Langelinie in the competition, so that the outcome will be a general plan for the improvement of the entire head of the Langelinie Pier.
The pier-head as a landmark
According to ATP, the Langelinie pier-head is intended to become a Copenhagen landmark, which has been incor-porated in the district plan. The present district plan per-mits building up to a height of 35 metres, but ATP have a vision of a building with one or more towers and want to depart from the ”warehouse style” that characterizes the buildings along Langelinie Allé. Therefore, ATP have sug-gested a revision of the local plan, once the winner of the competition has been found.
In connexion with the development of Langelinie, a number of problems concerning noise have arisen. The wis-dom of placing residential buildings in the area when there is a risk of complaints about noise from cruise liners and from the DFDS Terminal has been questioned. The future construction of residential buildings may therefore be in the balance – the uncertainty being further strengthened by today’s more restrictive environmental requirements regarding noise levels.
Langelinie today
Formerly, the old warehouses under the raised promenade at Langelinie were used for the storage of freight; today, however, they are used as factory outlets – that is, outlets for famous brands – and other boutiques. The Langelinie pier is still used for the mooring of ships, especially cruise liners.
Langelinie is popular with the tourists. This is where one finds The Little Mermaid, a tourist attraction – and Bjørn
Nowadays, Langelinie is still used by cruise liners, besides being a much-favoured attraction for Copenhageners. In connexion with planned development at the pier-head, the plan is to use the lower stories for public purposes, galleries, assembly rooms, cafés and restaurants.
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Nørgaard’s modern, ‘genetically modified’ mermaid. The completion of the head of the Langelinie pier will finalize one of the numerous development projects launched in Copenhagen Harbour in recent years.
Amerika Plads
Since the summer of 2000, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has been developing the area between the streets Kalkbræn-derihavnsgade and Dampfærgevej – the former DanLink area. The area used to serve as shunting yard for the train ferries to Helsingborg, Sweden, but went out of use with the construction of the Øresund Bridge in 2000.
Years ago, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and TK Develop-ment A/S recognized the potentials of the areas and bought them from DSB (today Banedanmark), estimating that the old railway and ferry areas were large enough to house a new DFDS Terminal as well as both residential and business buildings.
Adriaan Geuze’s architectural firm, West 8, of Rotterdam developed a general plan for the area for Port of Copen-hagen, Ltd. and the City of Copenhagen.
Adriaan Geuze’s idea and vision for Amerika Plads were the creation of a compact and active urban environment, characterized by large building blocks of varying shape and height – a modern version of Østerbro. The plan for the street level contains shops and restaurants, opening on a square in the middle of the area. At the north end of the square, the more than centenarian Frihavns Stations-bygning (station building) has been re-erected.
Besides the creation of a square – an urban space with a unifying function – the general plan for Amerika Plads also takes as its point of departure the Nordisk Fjer build-ing and the old DSB railway yards. Towards the west, along Kalkbrænderihavnsgade, the new buildings have been proportioned to agree with the Nordisk Fjer building. Furthest to the south, architects Lundgaard and Tranberg’s building, “Fyrtårnet”, is intended to continue the house row from Nordisk Fjer, as well as complete and end it. The construction of this landmark at the south end of Amerika Plads was commenced in the beginning of 2006. The house will have 15 stories, all residential.
Towards the north, vis-à-vis the DFDS Terminal, stands “Kobbertårnet”. The intention is that the tower and the
Amerika Plads, located between Dampfærgevej and Kalkbrænderihavnsgade, will become the centre in the new development in Søndre Frihavn. The square will be the same size as Amagertorv (one of the more famous urban squares in the city centre). So, at long last, the Langelinie area, known for its many promenades, eventually gets a square.
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surrounding buildings constitute a noise buffer between the traffic at the terminal and the other buildings. The shapes and heights of these buildings will also match the proportions of the Nordisk Fjer building. Along Dampfær-gevej, “Nordlyset”, designed by C.F. Møller, will interact with the white “Twin Warehouses” from the 1920s, Ware-house E and Warehouse D, which are used as domiciles by a variety of companies.
One continuous theme in the entire construction is the block structure. Amid the big and heavy blocks, a steel house, “Zinkhuset”, designed by Hvidt & Mølgaard, towers above the square as a sole exception. There is harmony and diversity at the same time. The architecture becomes different – in height, in colours and shape; but the con-nexion is still there.
The DFDS Terminal
Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has built the DFDS Terminal at Mellembassinet. The Terminal was finished in September 2004, and DFDS’s routes to Oslo and Polferries’s connexion to Poland both leave from the terminal. Architects behind the project are 3xNielsen. The terminal is the result of an agreement from 1999 between Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and DFDS to move the traffic on Oslo further north: from the Inner Harbour to Søndre Frihavn.
The purpose of the new terminal was to give travellers a modern and more convenient arrival. At many ferry ser-vices passengers must buy their tickets at a centrally located post and afterwards reach the ferry by wandering along
ramps and through long passages. The architects have tried to avoid this and shorten distances as much as pos-sible by collecting all functions in a single long building. Architecturally, the building has a facade of various types of glass in a light, modern Scandinavian design. The wish to connect closely to the urban surrounding is part of the explanation why design and architecture play such important roles in the shaping of the Terminal: the green dominance in the façade was chosen to create a harmony between the terminal and “Kobbertårnet”, the building right behind it.
Amerika Plads with ‘Kobbertårnet’ to the left, “Nordlyset” (the Auroral) in the middle, and one of the restored Twin Warehouses, Pakhus E, to the right. Between “Kobbertårnet” and “Nordlyset” one may discern the old Frihavnen Station building.
The DFDS Terminal at Amerika Plads. With the establishment of the new terminal, large passenger ships in regular service can still sail all the way to the central parts of the harbour and thereby keep Copen-hagen on the map as a seaport.
Building lines at Amerika Plads.
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”Kobbertårnet”
In 2004, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and TK Develop-ments A/S built “Kobbertårnet” (the cobber done tower) – whose 16 stories make it a landmark of Amerika Plads. The building was constructed for Plesner, one of Denmark’s largest law firms. It was designed by Arkitema. Over the years to come, this characteristic building will change its appearance. As the salty winds from the Øresund hit the copper of the façade, the colour will gradually change. With time, large parts of the façade will acquire the character-istic verdigris well known from a great number of the spires and rooftops of Copenhagen – and thus also match the DFDS Terminal. Kobbertårnet is an important detail in Geuze’s master plan for Søndre Frihavn: it must be a signi-ficant part of the Copenhagen skyline.
In connexion with the development of the Amerika Plads project, several fundamental questions have arisen which will also be relevant in the future urban development of sections of the harbour further north. One important mat-ter was the question of the population density. Another question was how co-existence of maritime functions with the city can be established.
The new DFDS Terminal and the new buildings at Amerika Plads have been designed so that they may
function side by side, to their mutual enrichment in their endeavours to create an intensive urban life. The shaping of the public urban spaces and the access to the water will be main themes in the future planning further north.
Nordhavnen
Nordhavnen comprises the areas north of the DFDS Ter-minal. Its north-westernmost point is the location of the new fishing harbour, built as a replacement for the fisher-men who were formerly based in Skudehavnen. The area has since developed into a ‘home-grown’ environment en-tirely of its own and probably without its equal anywhere in the capital.
The new fish market, designed by Kieler Architects A/S, lies immediately east of the fishing harbour. The fish market replaced the old fish market at Gasværkshavnen in Syd-havnen, which has been converted into a shopping centre.
The rest of the Nordhavn area has been leased to a number of enterprises, such as haulage contractors, ship chandlers, and scrap dealers. This is also the area where the harbour activities of the future – based on container handling – will develop. Nordhavnen is the area where Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. had its largest properties.
Kalkbrænderihavnen
Kalkbrænderihavnen was the first section of Nordhavnen that was developed by Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. Originally, Kalkbrænderihavnen was an area dominated by small shipyards and minor businesses. In cooperation with PFA, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. had a developer’s master plan for Kalkbrænderihavnen prepared with the purpose of se-curing architectural coherence in the area. The architec-tural firm Schmidt, Hammer & Larsen devised the overall plan. In the course of the period 1999 to 2005, Kalk-brænderihavnen became a fully developed urban area with business buildings and a marina.
Together with KPC BYG A/S, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has built a domicile for Accenture, the consulting firm, and for Den Københavnske Bank. The building was fin-ished in May 2001. Sjælsø Gruppen, who bought several sites from Port of Copenhagen, Ltd., has built new head-quarters for the IT-firm World Online. PFA is behind an office building for Kromann Reumert, the law firm. In recent years, many Danish architectural firms have been en-gaged in the development of Kalkbrænderihavnen. They have all left their stamp on the area. 3xNielsen, Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen, Dissing+Weitling and Kim Utzon Archi-tects are some of the architectural firms that have been
With its 16 storeys, ”Kobbertårnet” is a direction finding mark for foreign sailors arriving at the entrance to Copenhagen harbour and, at the same tim, the landmark of Amerika Plads.
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involved. Among Kim Utzon’s projects might be mentioned Paustian’s, the Danish Employers’ Confederation for Transport and Logistics (ATL), clubhouse and restaurant at “Knasten”, and Harbour House’.
In addition to participating in the construction of busi-ness buildings in the areas around Kalkbrænderihavnen, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. has been involved in the de-velopment of recreational areas at Svanemøllehavnen/Svanemøllebugten. Yacht clubs have moved in at Svane-knoppen. The area is used as a leisure boats facility and
offers clubhouses, winter storage yard, and parking. En-trance for the public by a promenade off Strandvænget. Svanemøllehavnen is Denmark’s largest marina.
Kalkbrænderihavnen. What used to be an industrial harbour, is today a commercial district and a marina. Numerous Danish architects have contributed and left their architectural stamp on the area – especially Kim Utzon, who has designed several of the buildings.
Svanemøllehavnen – Denmark’s largest marina.
Development plan for Kalkbrænderihavnen. The area has acquired a mixed character owing to the meeting of two different types of architecture: the complex buildings of Jørn and Kim Utzon towards the east, and – towards the west – the more minimalist buildings of 3xNielsen, Dissing+Weitling, and SHL
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A public beach
The City of Copenhagen has planned the establishment of a public beach in the small bay north of Svaneknoppen, and in August 2007 the City Authority endorsed the continued de-velopment of the project. There is a political wish that the beach is ready for use in the course of 2008, and the estab-lishment has been included in the City’s budget for 2008.
Indre Nordhavn
Indre Nordhavn is part of today’s fenced-off Freeport area, but will become one of the Port & City Development Cor-poration’s future developments areas. The fence will be moved when the development process begins. The Indre Nordhavn area stretches from Marmormolen as far as to include Orientbassinet.
The City-ring agreement of February 2, 2006, renders the development possible of 400,000 floor sqm in Nord-havnen as Stage 1. This initial stage will take place in Indre Nordhavn and consist of a combination of residential and non-residential buildings. At the moment, the exact loca-tion of a 2. Stage of 200,000 floor sqm is under consid-eration. After Stage 2, Nordhavnen is expected to receive further development.
In addition to this, about 70,000 floor sqm of the exist-ing business properties at Indre Nordhavn can be preserved. The area is expected to be developed to contain 2,000 dwellings and 200,000 floor sqm non-residential proper-ties, which corresponds to a population of 4,500 people and 5,000 jobs.
According to a preliminary schedule, building will com-mence in 2009. The Port & City Development Corporation and the City of Copenhagen join efforts in the creation of a basic plan which may result in a general structural plan for Indre Nordhavn and the rest of Nordhavnen. An advisors’ competition is expected to be launched for a general plan of the area.
In connexion with the planning of Søndre Frihavn in 2001, Adriaan Geuze submitted suggestions as to how the urbanization of the southern part of Nordhavnen, i.e. the area around Nordbassinet, could be accomplished. Geuze’s idea of housing around Nordhavn Station could possibly be incorporated in the planning of the future development of Nordhavnen.
The initial stages in the development of Nordhavnen. 2,000 dwellings and 200,000 floor sqm for business purposes are planned in Stage 1. When the urban development starts, the fence will be moved, and the area will no longer be part of the Freeport.
1. Stage
2. Stage(2.)-3. Stage
The Århusgade area has several grain or cement silos. Their locations can be seen in the photo below.
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Public transport
Indre Nordhavn is situated quite close to Nordhavn Station on the metropolitan railway. There are plans for the mod-ernization of the station by providing direct access from the harbour side and by an increase in the transport ser-vices at Nordhavnen. At first this will mean more bus con-nexions, and the construction of a Metro at a later stage is under deliberation.
A new road connexion between Kalkbrænderhavns-gade and Lyngbyvej (the motorway to Elsinore) is being planned, which will provide both the new urban section and the commercial harbour with an attractive connexion to the motorway net. The road is part of a political agree-ment between the state and the City of Copenhagen, which is backed by a majority of the political parties in the Folketing (i.e. the Danish Parliament.). Construction might commence in 2010, and the connexion may be in service in 2014. The City of Copenhagen is in charge of the con-struction work.
Harbour activities
Altogether the Nordhavn areas total about 2 million sqm and are the property of the Port & City Development Corpo-ration – apart from the sites around Kalkbrænderihavnen, which have now been fully developed as an urban area. In municipal as well as local planning the areas have been re-served for maritime purposes. Today Nordhavnen is a busi-ness section, comprising a container terminal, a car terminal, a cruise liner terminal and several logistics enterprises.
The Board of Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. wished to be part of the endeavour to secure Copenhagen’s position as the leading Scandinavian cruise destination, and the develop-ment of Nordhavnen may help achieve this. On December 6, 2006, the Board decided to examine the possibility of establishing a new quay for cruise liners along the entrance to Copenhagen Harbour – at Kronløbet – and permit a future relocation of the container and the car terminals to a reclaimed area in the north-eastern part of Nordhavnen. The new quays and a terminal are expected to be ready in three or four years. The public authorities and the firms involved will now jointly examine the plan in its entirety.
The relocation of the container terminal and the car terminal should be viewed in connexion with the ongoing development and planning of the Nordhavn areas, including Indre Nordhavn. Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. have carried out noise level analyses that have indicated that the present location of the container terminal restricts the possibilities of an optimal reconstruction.
In connexion with the planning of Søndre Frihavn in 1999, the Dutch town planner Adriaan Geuze prepared first drafts for a possible urbanization of Indre Nordhavn, here visualized in a model by architects Hasløv and Kjærsgaard.
The map shows the proposed road connexion between Kalk-brænderihavnsgade and the Elsinore Motorway, which would facilitate traffic to and from the new urban area. The exact siting and layout of the connexion is under consideration.
Commercialharbourwithcontainerandcarterminals
Cruiselinerterminal
Recreationalarea
Presentlocationofcontainerandcarterminals
Developmentarea
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Inderhavnen
Inderhavnen is the historic part of Copenhagen Harbour. The area stretches from Nordre Toldbod to Langebro. As one of the three focus areas, it was the object of an analysis by Henning Larsen Architects in order to point out the possibilities of placing large centres for the performing arts and public institutions here. The conclusion of the work was that there was room for a playhouse and concert halls on the grand scale – at a time when a new opera house was not yet in the offing. The work was carried out as a series of volume studies describing permitted heights at a number of sensitive locations in Copenhagen’s inner harbour – a precursor, as it were, to today’s debate on the skyline of the city, on tower blocks and high-rises.
Kvæsthusbroen
The ferries for Oslo and Bornholm have been relocated to the new DFDS Terminal in Søndre Frihavn and to Køge – a market town south of Copenhagen – respectively. This relocation made the site at Kvæsthusbroen available and created the possibility of building a new arts- centre-cum-stage: the Royal Theatre’s new playhouse at Sankt Annæ Plads. Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold the sites to the Danish Ministry of Culture. After winning an international architec-tural competition, Lundgaard and Tranberg were chosen as architects for the task. Construction began in 2004 and the house was inaugurated in February 2008.
The new playhouse has three stages of different sizes. The most striking feature of the exterior is the top storey with its undivided glass façade, behind which there are fa-cilities for actors and administration. The architects chose to move the house forward into the harbour, as it were, and the audience enters by slightly sloping ramps, which, besides being the point of arrival, serve as a promenade with a view of the water.
The Opera House in the Inner Harbour is perhaps the best-known building in Copenhagen Harbour. The Opera was designed by Henning Larsen Architects and was inaugurated in 2005. The Playhouse at Kvæsthusbroen. The first performance took
place in February 2008. Just north of the Opera House, Christians-holm with the newsprint storehouse can be identified.
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Christiansholm
Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. owns Christiansholm, presently leased to Danske Dagblade, an association of Danish daily newspapers, who use it for newsprint storage. So far no decision has been made as to the further development of Christiansholm.
Danske Dagblade’s lease is interminable until 2017. Owing to the long distances involved in the deliverances of newsprint to the newspaper printing offices, today no longer located in central Copenhagen, the lessees have con-sidered shifting the storage facility away from the harbour.
Christiansholm’s central location immediately suggests that the area be used for activities targeted at the general public. However, today the placing of cultural institutions and events at Christiansholm is but one of many options. Henning Larsen Architects aired the possibility of placing a concert hall there, but the plans were abandoned when the Danish Radio announced their plans for a concert hall in connexion with their new domicile in Ørestad.
As part of the inner harbour, Christiansholm has a cen-tral location, placed as it is in the lines of sight from both the northern and the southern end of the harbour pas-sage. In accordance with the ways in which the city has
been planned and has developed, Christiansholm will become the central point of the harbour.
Among other things, the building of a rendezvous has been suggested, a “Town House” with, say, exhibitions and restaurants. Recently the idea of turning Christiansholm into a residential area has been put forward.
Sydhavnen
Sjoerd Soeters, the Dutch architect, was commissioned to devise a plan for Sydhavnen, that is the area from Kalve-bod Brygge in the north to Sluseholmen in the south. Soeters took as his point of departure two development projects from Amsterdam, the two artificial islands used for housing, “Java Island” and “Borneo Island”, where the surface of the water is brought into close encounter with modern residential buildings in a visionary and experimental way. In addition to this, the concept has been enriched through an interpretation of aspects of the typology of Copenhagen – in this case, the blocks in the old inner sub-urbs of Copenhagen with their enclosed courtyards, offering shelter from the winds, become waterfront dwellings.
In order to obtain the greatest variety possible, more than 30 architectural firms have participated in the design of the façades at Sluseholmen.
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Havneholmen and Gasværksholmen
In 2005 Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold their property at Havneholmen to the Sjælsø Group. Prior to that, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and Skanska Øresund commissioned a general plan for the area. In connexion with this, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd., Skanska Øresund and the City of Copen-hagen jointly decided that the general character of the area should be examined from several angles.
An architectural competition was launched in the shape of a parallel assignment between three architectural firms. The participants were the Danish firms Exe Architects and Bystrup Arkitekter, and Gert Wingårdh from Gothen-burg, Sweden. The final evaluation pointed to Wingårdh’s project as the most visionary proposal for the area.
The basic idea behind Wingårdh’s winning project con-sisted in building elements placed at right angles to the harbour passage with characteristic oblique roofs, sloping towards the central thoroughfare. In this way Havneholmen will acquire its own architectonic expression at the har-bour passage and form a gateway, if you like, or opening into the southern harbour.
Another fundamental idea in the winning project is the design of an urban space that bridges the transition from the waterside dwellings to the office buildings facing the Fisketorvet shopping centre and the Aller domicile at the northernmost point.
Bryggebroen
Havneholmen is also the location of Bryggebroen across the harbour to the Havnestaden. Moreover, the urban space will provide the hinterland of the open-air swimming facility, ‘the harbour baths’, to be established immediately south of the bridge.
Bryggebroen was opened in September 2006. This bridge will be of special importance as a connexion between the Vesterbro quarter of Copenhagen and Islands Brygge. The bridge was designed by architects Dissing+Weitling.
The area as a whole is intended to be an active part of the canal village planned in Sydhavnen and form the north-ern fringe of the latter. In a few years, when all the con-struction work has been finished and connexions to the surrounding parts of the city have been established, Havnestaden will appear as a coherent neighbourhood with an identity of its own. A very compact quarter with open-air space and well-balanced architecture that takes advantage of its waterside location.
Sjælsø is behind a housing project that introduces new and supplementary canals compared to the previous plan
Rendering of Havneholmen. In the foreground, the open-air swimming bath. The prism-shaped glass building on the right is the new domicile-to-be of the Aller Group.
On sites previously owned by Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. at Havneholmen, Sjælsø are in the process of realizing a housing project where the out-door areas are merged into the harbour promenade in a new and different version of urban spaces along a waterfront. Architects: Lundgaard and Tranberg.
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for Havneholmen. This is a housing project at odds with the City of Copenhagen’s body of regulations regarding prom-enades along the harbour. In this case the promenade is laid out behind the buildings and a lot of urban spaces are created around the new canals. At the same time, the façades of the buildings run straight down into the water of the harbour. Architects: Lundgaard and Tranberg.
Further south, Skanska’s housing project accommodates itself to the same schematics, albeit in a simpler manner. The project was designed by Vilhelm Lauritsen Architects.
To the west, Skanska’s two new office buildings, de-signed by Gert Wingårdh AB and Bystrup Architects, are placed along the canal between the Fisketorvet shopping centre and Havneholmen.
To the north, the Aller Group’s new domicile is located on the very conspicuous triangular site at the harbour en-
trance – a house of glass and steel that feels at ease in the architectural ensemble at Havneholmen. In combina-tion with the Island Hotel, designed by Kim Utzon, the Aller building here creates an urban space, a large part of which consists of the surface of the water in the harbour. The Aller building will be shaped like a glass prism; it was designed by PLH Architects.
Enghave Brygge
The Enghave Brygge area is part of Soeter’s general plan for a canal village in Sydhavnen, and will be developed as the last stage of the plan. The first two stages will be Teglholmen and Sluseholmen.
Two developers, JM Danmark and Nordicom, have bought sites in the area. However, the fate of the develop-ment plans depends on the resolution of the environmental problems in connexion with H.C. Ørstedsværket, the near-by power station.
Nordicom expect to be able to build between 500 and 700 dwellings in the area.
General plan for the canal village in Sydhavnen. The plan was devel-oped by Soeters Van Eldank Panec Architecten, an Amsterdam architectural firm, and should be seen as a further development of earlier Dutch projects – here in a Danish and Copenhagen-ish version. In this further development, elements of water together with the length of the promenades have become even more powerful.
Situation display of Havneholmen, showing the area formerly owned by Port of Copenhagen, Ltd.
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Teglholmen
In July 2005, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and the Sjælsø Group entered into an agreement about development and joint preparation of land for building of a large area at Teglholmen. A development company, Teglholmen P/S, was established to be in charge of the task. The Port & City Development Corporation will sell their property to the Company, as soon as a district plan for the area has been approved. Sjælsø has bough a part of the other business properties in the area and included them in the Company’s development areas. Together, the areas are expected to make the construction of 1,300 dwellings and 20,000 sqm for business purposes feasible.
In 2002, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and MT Højgaard cooperated in the construction of a non-residential building project at 12 Støberigade.
The development of Teglholmen is stage 2 of the canal-building project in Sydhavnen, a concept within urban development, which has been developed in co-operation with the Dutch architect Sjoerd Soeters.
Together with other development plans for the harbour, this instance of urban development provides the back-ground for one part of City of Copenhagen’s master de-velopment and town planning scheme for 2001. With
Christianshavn and Amsterdam as models for the ‘town on the waterside’, and with the old inner suburbs as inspi-ration for the houses that make up the blocks, canal vil-lages are being constructed at Teglholmen, Sluseholmen and Enghave Brygge.
The elaboration of the sketches for Teglholmen Øst was carried out in four workshops where the City of Copen-hagen, the Sjælsø Group, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and the architects participated.
Positive experiences in the form of good results obtained from the work with a general plan for the entire Slusehol-men area made the Port & City Development Corporation see the continuation and the development of these proce-dures as obvious.
The building of a municipal school has been planned as part of the development plan for Teglholmen. In autumn 2006, The City of Copenhagen’s school authority arranged an architectural competition in which 7 architectural firms participated. The competition ended on December 1, 2006 with JJW Architects as winners. The next stage is the devel-opment of the winning project towards a feasible plan.
Today the area houses a mixture of different business-es, the dominating enterprise being MAN B&W. In 2006, TV2 moved to Teglholmen, which engendered new activi-ties in the old industrial area, and the future development
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is already making its marks. The housing estates to the east, the apartment buildings and the dwellings on the water are bordered by the green wedge stretching from the east to the west – eventually all the way down to the har-bour passage. The existing roads are the basis for the structure of the future road net.
H.C. Ørstedsvæket, the power station, is not expected to cause noise problems at Teglholmen, but the MAN B&W is. A consultant’s examination showed that at the nearest building sites low-frequency noise from MAN B&W ex-ceeds the margins for nighttime noise fixed by The Envi-ronmental Agency.
The low-frequency noise derived either from MAN B&W’s factory chimney or from their test building. The noise problem is expected to be solvable through noise suppres-sors at the source or through façade cladding. In the pro-posal for a local plan for the Teglholmen P/S Company, the building sites bordering on MAN B&W have been selected for non-residential purposes.
Sluseholmen
The preparation of land and its further development are the responsibilities of Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. and the City of Copenhagen. The first sites were sold to JM Danmark, the Sjælsø Group and Nordicom. The canals and their environment have been designed by the Dutch architect Sjoerd Soeters.
After its completion, the area at Sluseholmen will have 1,200 dwellings. In 2006 the first “Sluseholmians” moved in.
Arkitema, an architectural firm from Århus, has concretised the canal village. Along the canals, the façades of the buildings run straight down into the canal surfaces.
Housing estate at Sluseholmen - in a canal environment after inspiration from Holland. The first inhabitants moved in 2006.
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At the southern part of Sluseholmen three developing companies, Nordicom, MT Højgaard and Hauser Ejendomme, are at work on the construction of 1,300 dwellings – a continuation of the canal development on the northern side of Sluseholmen. The building plan means a goodbye to Louis Poulsen Lamps’s production facility.
The purpose of Local Plan 310 Teglværkshavnen is to make it possible to develop the former industry-cum-harbour area into a high-quality urban neighbourhood close to the water, with housing, business, institutions, school and recreation. The local plan is a general plan, continuously enlarged through supplements to allow for various stages in the building process. The area is located between the harbour passage, Sydhavnsgade and Teglværkshavnen.
During the 1990s, when business construction boomed, a number of administrative domiciles were built for IT-companies and other high-technology firms such as Nokia and Daimler/Benz, all of them designed as modern office blocks placed at a right angle to Sydhavnsgade at Frede-rikskaj.
Sjoerd Soeters got the idea for the canal village at Sluseholmen through his experiences with the artificially established residential islands “Java Island” and “Borneo Island”, both in Amsterdam. The Dutch inspiration is evident in the newly constructed canals that define the general character of the area. The new canal village was built on eight islands. The islands are the result of canal digging – with an overall pattern of connected house blocks around protective courtyards.
In cooperation with the City of Copenhagen and Port of Copenhagen, Ltd., Soeters and the Danish architectural
firm Arkitema have produced a master plan for Slusehol-men. This Dutch-Danish partnership resulted in a set of architectural rules, or “dogmas”, for Sluseholmen.
The dogmas of the masterplan constitute a unifying principle for Sluseholmen, but provides at the same time an area of great diversity, where each building has an individuality of its own. In order to create diversity in the canal village, 25 different architectural firms were em-ployed in the design of the houses. One dogma stipulates that 5 architectural offices must be involved in each block. The dwellings are arranged in 4 to 7 stories, and the design and the size of the houses are dependent on their orien-tation: towards the harbour, towards a canal or towards a promenade. Houses facing the smaller canals have only 4 stories. Canals, quays and bridges intersect the area and make Sluseholmen a part of Copenhagen with a dif-ference and of great variety.
One circumstance that contributes and will continue to contribute to the extraordinary environment is the Valby Boat Club and the north quay, designated to moor 10 to 12 houseboats. The variety and the differences in propor-tions speak about the history of the place and also of the high housing quality of the present.
The northern part of Sluseholmen has been shaped like an elongated peninsula, where the local plan permits a tower construction of up to 40 m. The British architec-tural firm Future Systems has designed a residential building, Metropolis, for the peninsula. Between the tow-er and the house blocks the plan is to establish an open-air swimming facility, a “harbour bath”, of the same curved design as the Metropolis.
Rendering of the Metropolis, a residential building at Sluseholmen – a project “with a difference”, designed by the experimental English architectural firm Future Systems. The building contributes to the diversity characteristic of Sluseholmen.
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Havneparken
In 1984 the inhabitants of Islands Brygge laid out a park on the former harbour areas. In 1994 the Island Brygge Neighbourhood Council developed a plan for the areas, which was incorporated in a local plan. Afterwards, in 1995, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold the areas to the City of Copenhagen.
Today, Havneparken is a very popular recreational area, not least owing to the ‘Harbour Bath’, established in 2001, which the high quality of the water of the harbour had made possible.
Havnestaden
At the end of the 1990s, Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold their properties in this area to ØK (the East-Asiatic Com-pany). ØK had a general plan developed for the entire “Sojakage-area” (the property and location of Dansk Soja-kagefabrik, a soaybean cake company) and later sold the areas to NCC, the Sjælsø Group and JM Danmark.
Havnestaden is especially known for the silos that used to be part of Dansk Sojakagefabrik: Pressesilo, converted to flats on the basis of a project by PLH Arkitekter, a Dan-ish architectural firm, Wennberg Silo, converted to flats on
The “Harbour Bath” at Islands Brygge. Today the water in Copenhagen Harbour is as clean as the water of the Øresund. This enabled the creation of a ‘beach’ in the middle of Copenhagen.
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the basis of a project by the Danish architect Tage Lyneborg, and Frøsilo, which was converted into the Gemini Resi-dence. The architects behind the Genimi Residence are the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, assisted by a local firm, JJW Arkitekter from Copenhagen.
The importance of the area is increased by the fact that this is where Islands Brygge is connected via the Bryggebro-en to Vesterbro, one of the old inner suburbs of Copenhagen.
Islands Brygge Syd
In 2006 a local plan was adopted for Islands Brygge Syd. Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. sold their properties to B-House, a company formed by the Nordkranen Real-estate Company and Carlyle Group, the investment company. Together Port of Copenhagen, Ltd., B-House and NCC arranged an architectural competition about the future of the area. The competition was framed as a parallel as-signment with three participating teams. The three teams in the competition were made up by MVRDV/3xNielsen, Exe/HPP and PLOT/West 8. The project chosen to be further developed was prepared by the young Danish archi-tectural firm PLOT and West 8. At a later point, Walls and Kay Wilhelmsen A/S, owners of some of the sites, joined in the development of the area.
The local plan permits the construction of 1,500-1,700 dwellings and 30,000-50,000 sqm non-residential build-ings in the area. One of the first constructions will be “Vingerne” (The Wings), two houses designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. Altogether they will have 130 flats and are expected to be ready for occupation by 2009. Another project on its way is the three tower blocks named The three Sisters, which, combined, will contain about 200 flats. The houses, which will have from 9 to 14 stories, were designed by Boldsen and Holm Arkitekter.
Today, the Frøsilo, once a part of the former soybean cake factory, has been converted into flats. As proposed in the competition by the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, the flats were mounted on the outside walls of the silos.
Rendering of the three tower blocks named ”The Three Sisters.” The houses are of different sizes, but together they form a unit. Architects: Boldsen and Holm Arkitekter.
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A new urban quarter
This part of Islands Brygge has the potential to become an entirely new and exciting development in the harbour. The area is bordered by Drechlersgade to the north, the harbour to the west, and Amager Fælled, a protected former common, on the east side, and the transition zone to “Nokken” (allotments) to the south. This is a part of Co-penhagen with a character of its own: rural towards the east, and urban on a scale from compact to spacious to-wards the north and the south respectively, and harbour-related towards the west.
One central idea in PLOT’s and West 8’s winning entry consists in the re-creation and renewal of the Copenhagen row house from the beginning of the 20th century, known as “building society houses” – such as “Kartoffelrækkerne” at Østerbro. Another central idea is the so-called “creek” – a canal or small inlet that divides the large area into a northern and a southern section. The northern part is ur-ban in character. Here a tight pattern of urban terraced houses is the dominating feature, only interrupted by the occasional “visual strike” in the form of high-rises.
The creek itself is the most essential recreational ele-ment in the project. The intention behind the layout of the northern part is that the bank will be sunlit well into the evening hours. A “harbour bath” will be established with sandy stretches, shaped according to the possibilities of-fered by the creek.
The transitions between water and land will be designed differently at the southern end. The row houses, quite simply, stand in the water, thus creating very original house types. Finally, the intention is, by means of technical in-
stallations, to secure a sufficient flow in the creek. Towards the west, a bridge across the creek will be established as part of the harbour promenades.
The dominating house type in the area is the 3-storey row house. It comes in several varieties: in the urban variety of great compactness, but also at the edge of the harbour along the promenade, close to the town centre.
For variety’s sake, and as a contrast to the repetitive terrace structure, both house blocks and high-rises of various designs are placed as “visual strikes” amongst the row houses. The total effect is the creation of a dynamic
Overall plan of Islands Brygge Syd. Basically, the quarter is divided into two areas. The northern part is characterized by narrow urban spaces and forms the boundary of the compact neighbourhood of Is-lands Brygge. At the southern end, the buildings are scattered along the water and in the green area. The two parts are separated by a small inlet stretching from the harbour to Amager Fælled, the old common.
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urban scene, where diversity and complexity are mixed with repetition and homogeneity in the façades.
There are many types of high-rises: terraced houses along the quay, a horseshoe-shaped house at the inlet and, in and near the central urban square, solitary tower blocks of many expressive designs. Here and at the promenade along the harbour, the life of the quarter is expected es-pecially to unfold. Space has been allocated in the raised ground-floor stories for activities with a social address that may enrich life in the open area and along the prom-enade, e.g. shops, galleries, restaurants, cafés, and work-shops for various creative groups. In the dock there may also be room for houseboats that might be used not only as homes, but also for other purposes.
To the south of the inlet we meet another kind of neigh-bourhood: more scenic, different in architecture. There are curved terraces of row houses, dwellings in tower blocks broken in form, or shaped like budding flowers and, above all, single-family properties parcelled out in a seemingly
chaotic pattern – the idea being that the neighbourhood should resemble its surroundings and appear “home-grown”, but at the same time thoroughly planned. We shall have a neighbourhood of an almost ”organic” quality, which provides a meaningful counterpart to the northern half of the area. Besides, this is where we find the existing, and long-established, home of rowing clubs and boat clubs. A down-to-earth arrangement, simple and straightforward of architecture, which may serve passers-by or visitors as an introduction to Nokken, further to the south.
Regarded as an urban quarter, Islands Brygge Syd will differ from the other waterside quarters. Focus is pre-emi-nently on the scenic, but it is nevertheless located at the doorstep of central Copenhagen. The amenities which may be experienced here today shall, through thoroughgoing conversion, have their qualities intensified, and at the same time give pleasure to more people – both inhabitants-to-be and Copenhageners in general.
Study model of Islands Brygge Syd, situated in continuation of Havnestaden. In addition to the creek, a central element in the concept, the architectural diversification of beach houses, row-houses and conspicuous high-rises is evident.
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South of Sjællandsbroen
The district south of Sjællandsbroen includes areas at Bådehavnsgade, Fragtvej, Speditørvej, Fiskerhavnen and Sejlklubvej, a large part of which are the property of The Port & City Development Corporation. The leases in this area are mostly held by boat clubs and minor businesses. The future of the area has not yet been decided.
The Port & City Development Corporation also owns properties further south, at the so-called “Tippen”, a green area of about 50,000 sqm. According to the municipal plans, a part of the area may be developed after 2017. Several green organizations, however, want the entire expanse preserved as a green area.
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Østhavnen/Prøvestenen
A substantial part of the activities of Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. took place at Prøvestenen. Prøvestenen is used for oil and stone, gravel and soil (liquid bulk and dry bulk cargo.)
Together, the Port & City Development Corporation and the City of Copenhagen are enlarging Prøvestenen by 50 per cent, or 40 hectares. The extension takes place to-wards the south and the east.
The object of the enlargement of Prøvestenen is the establishment of new docking facilities and areas for bulk handling (stone, gravel, etc.), but the aim is also to give Copenhageners new recreational possibilities.
Aerial photo of the Karens Minde-area, located south of Sjællandsbroen. Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. owns several of the areas, including many green areas.
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At present, 650 m piling has been established at a depth of 13.5 m. Soil from building activities in Copenhagen is deposited behind the piling.
Prøvestenen will become the home of a new large marina, quite close to Amager Strandpark, which was opened to the public in the summer of 2005. The marina will eventually have about 1,400 berths, that is approximately the same size as Svanemøllehavnen, at the present moment Den-mark’s largest marina.
Together, Prøvestenen and Nordhavnen constitute the commercial harbour. Prøvestenen is used for the handling of oil and of stone, gravel and earth.
The marina planned at the south end of Prøvestenen will match Svanemøllehavnen in size and will thus be one of the largest marinas in Denmark.
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Ørestad Development Corporation
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Ørestad – a central city quarter in the Sound region
Ørestad is a part of the Sound region, comprising Greater Copenhagen and Scania, the southern part of Sweden. It is one of the official border regions of the European Un-ion and has become the new regional centre of Northern Europe. Copenhagen is the hub of the region, where Central and Northern Europe meet.
Among other reasons the Sound region has become a regional centre due to its access to the Scandinavian and Baltic markets, the highly developed infrastructure and the high concentration of knowledge and know-how. The attractive conditions in the region have made it the largest urban area in Scandinavia with about 3.6 million inhabit-ants and a high concentration of jobs and professions.
Around 3,400 foreign-owned firms have settled in the region. Furthermore, about 137,000 students have chosen to study at one of the present 14 university level institutions in the area, having around 10,000 teachers and lecturers.
The thoughts of making the Ørestad area Copenhagen’s new urban development area started at the beginning of the 1990s. Among other reasons, these thoughts were inspired by the Act on the Sound bridge being passed in 1990 and the taking form of the Sound region as a Danish-Swedish growth region.
Ørestad is situated between Copenhagen Airport and the old city centre. This makes Copenhagen’s new quarter a pivot in the Sound region. Furthermore, there is place and space here for buildings that would otherwise, because of size or architecture, not fit into the existing quarters of Co-penhagen.
The founding of Ørestadsselskabet
The Act on Ørestadsselskabet I/S was passed on June 1992, and Ørestadsselskabet I/S itself was founded in March 1993 by the City of Copenhagen and the Danish state as a joint venture. Behind the founding of the cor-poration there was a wish to strengthen the development of Copenhagen. This development was to be based on Copenhagen’s position at the centre of the Sound region and on the many characteristic qualities of the capital: An attractive environment, a rich and varied urban life, a vibrant culture and shopping life, a harmonious, but many-faceted architecture, and internationally orientated business life.
The City of Copenhagen and the Danish state trans-ferred the ownership of the 310-hectare Ørestad area to the Ørestad Development Corporation. Hereafter, the task of the corporation was to develop and sell sites in the new quarter, Ørestad, and to build the Metro and invite tenders for operating it. The development of Ørestad and the sales of the sites will finance a part of the investment in the Metro, which can therefore be built without straining the budgets of neither State nor City.
There would be no Ørestad without Metro, and vice versa. Those two are inextricably linked. This goes both finan-cially, geographically and, not least, when it comes to quality. The value connected with the Metro is the cornerstone of selling sites in Ørestad. The Metro also plays a significant role when it comes to the quality of the buildings in Øres-tad. An efficient infrastructure makes it possible to get leading Danish and international architects to design future buildings in Ørestad. In a wider perspective, an efficient infrastructure may guarantee a vibrant city. The profits from the sales of these sites partly finance the Metro.
The masterplan of Ørestad
In accordance with the Ørestad Act, an open architectural competition was offered on a masterplan for Ørestad. The masterplan was thought to suggest the overall frames for Ørestad. In 1995 a public debate was carried out about four awarded projects, and it was decided that a entry made by a team of Finnish architects would form the basis of the planning. Together with the Danish architect firm KHRAS, the Finnish architect formed the drawing office ARKKI, which helped Ørestadsselskabet I/S working out a masterplan for Ørestad. This work was completed in the spring of 1995.
The masterplan aimed at Ørestad as a green neighbour-hood with water and nature. A high architectural quality would make it attractive for both Danish and foreign firms to settle in Ørestad.
Map of the Sound region, one of the official border regions of the European Union, of which Ørestad is a part. Copenhagen is the hub of the regional centre, where Central and Northern Europe meet.Among other reasons the Sound region has become a regional centre due to its access to the Scandinavian and Baltic markets, the highly developed infrastructure and the high concentration of knowledge and know-how.
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Furthermore, attractive dwellings and cultural buildings are thought to attract new residents to the area. The master-plan also defined the essential features of Ørestad, in-cluding the layouts of the Metro and the most important boulevards and the relationship between buildings and the surrounding green areas.
A system of connected canals links Ørestad’s four dif-ferent quarters, thus giving all of them a touch of shared landscape. The layout of the canal system underlines the specific and individual atmosphere of each quarter. For instance, in Ørestad Nord there are two quite different canals – one with scenic features and one with urban fea-tures. In a very curvy course meant to illustrate the typical
stream in the Danish landscape, Den Landskabelige Kanal runs from KUA in Njalsgade past DR Byen and into Grønjordssøen (the Landscape Canal).
The University Canal, the canal with the urban features, has quite another shape. Going north-south in a geomet-rically stricter and straighter line, the canal runs from Njalsgade to the Metro station at DR Byen. This canal is integrated in the most significantly urban milieu in Ørestad Nord and forms the basis – both when it comes to light and function – of a varied, complex and many-faceted urban life. Building these two canals has become possible because of a strong wish to give priority to quality and aesthetics.
Den Landskabelige Kanal (the Landscape Canal) runs from KUA in Njalsgade past DR Byen and into Grønjordssøen.
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The first projects
In June 1996, the City of Copenhagen adopted the addi-tional plans for Ørestad. Having done this, everything was clear to start the first building activities in Ørestad.
It is The Port & City Development Corporation I/S that is responsible for the necessary infrastructure in the gen-eral plan and the additional plan put forward by the City. Among other things, Ørestad Development Corporation is responsible for the overall road system including squares, the main path system, areas in connexion with the Metro, canals and water areas, and the common green areas in Ørestad.
The building rights on the first sites in Ørestad were sold in 1997, among others to University of Copenhagen and Projektselskabet (Field’s). After that, a whole series of sales agreements were made, with DR (: Danish Broad-casting Corporation), Ferring, Telia, HS, KLP, and others. Sales went fast, and by the end of 2002 the Ørestad De-velopment Corporation had sold 20 per cent of the planned building area. In 2007, about 53 per cent of the planned building area in Ørestad has been sold.
The first non-residential buildings were used as early as 1999. The most conspicuous office building, Ferring, was used for the first time in January 2002. In 2002 a series of the important infrastructural building activities was finished: Ørestad Boulevard opened, the bridges over the Sound motorway were finished, so was the first part of the university canal, and work on the main canal started. Furthermore, all the areas in front of the Metro stations in Ørestad were finished before the Metro opened in Octo-ber 2002.
In the spring 2003 the building of the first housing es-tate, the Karen Blixen Park, started.
Art in Ørestad
Some of Denmark’s leading artists contribute to the dec-oration of Ørestad. Normally sculptures are placed in an already existing town or city. In Ørestad it is done the other way around. Cultural works have been created and placed as the city has grown to life. Three conspicuous works of art have been planned in Ørestad. Two of these are already here. The first one was Per Kirkby’s mural sculpture situ-ated between Amager Fælled and Ørestad Nord. The sculpture can be seen as a welcome or as a goodbye – depending on the viewer’s point of view.
The Metro and the tower of the head office of the pharmaceutical firm Ferring were two of the first projects in Ørestad. With its 19 floors the Ferring Tower has become a landmark of Ørestad City and Ørestad in general, just as the elevated railway of the Metro is characteristic of the image of Ørestad.
Per Kirkeby´s mural sculpture can be seen as a welcome or as a goodbye – depending on the viewer’s point of view.
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In Amager Fælled Kvarteret a work of art by Bjørn Nørgaard will be placed at Vejlands Allé. It consists of a pavilion named Kærlighedsøen (island of love), which will be erected on an island in the future lake area. It will be used for excursions and shared recreation.
The third work of art is placed in Ørestad Syd, namely Hein Heinsen´s sculpture ”Den store Udveksler” (the great exchanger). The transition from the packed city that will be built here to the wide open landscape will be dra-matic and characteristic of the new urban area. The 7.5 metre tall bronze sculpture is thought to mark the transi-tion from city to countryside.
The four quarters of Ørestad
Ørestad is divided into four quarters, each one having its own characteristic features, namely Ørestad Nord, Amager Fælled, Ørestad City and Ørestad Syd.
The great connecting factor is the overall building structure that operates with rural-urban transitions and with transi-tions from one characteristic urban structure to another. It is all connected by the Metro and a north-south system of paths and roads. Seen from the air it resembles a giant tie on the island of Amager.
Today local plans and additional plans have been made for Ørestad Nord, Ørestad City, Ørestad Syd and Amager Fælled Øst. The local plan for Amager Fælled Vest will be passed later.
The Act on Ørestad Development Corporation implies that Ørestad will expand over 30 to 40 years. In the first
phases, planning has concentrated on developing Ørestad Nord and Ørestad City. Ørestad Syd will presumably be finished within the next 10 years, while the building of the western part of the Amager Fælled quarter according to the local plan may be commenced in 2017. Ørestad De-velopment Corporation has asked the City of Copenhagen to push forward the planning of the Amager Fælled quarter, so that building may start within the next 4 or 5 years.
Ørestad North is the most built-up urban quarter in Ørestad. There are residential areas and a hall of resi-dence and big Copenhagen institutions such as DR Byen, the IT University and the Amager branch of University of Copenhagen. Housing these institutions, the Ørestad Nord quarter has become a vibrant, international educa-tional and development centre for culture, media and communication technology.
In the Amager Fælled quarter only the eastern part has been developed so far. In the eastern part we find Amager Hospital, the residential area Solstriben, Ørestad Friskole and the day care centre Småland.
According to the local plan, the Amager Fælled quarter will be the last developed part of Ørestad.
Ørestad City is already today a vibrant and pulsating urban area thanks to the many people who have moved into the many new flats and offices. The central places here are Kay Fiskers Plads by the Ørestad Metro and the
Hein Heinsen´s sculpture ”Den store udveksler” in Ørestad Syd marks the transition from city to countryside, a transition character-istic of the layout of Ørestad Syd.
Urban life in Ørestad at VM Husene.
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regional train station connecting Copenhagen and Malmö. The pulsating shopping centre Field´s also creates life, and the golf course, Copenhagen Golf Park, offers recreation and leisure for new residents and people working in Øre-stad.
Ørestad Syd will be a dense and varied urban community with offices, flats, shops, schools and other institutions. In the long run Ørestad Syd will be the most populated quar-ter in Ørestad. About 10,000 persons will move in, and further 15,000 will have jobs here. The area borders on the preservation area of Kalvebod Fælled. Already now many of the sites in the quarter have been sold, and the first buildings will rise in 2007 and 2008.
Residents in Ørestad
In the summer of 2006 TNS Gallup carried out a survey for Ørestad Development Corporation among the persons who have chosen to buy or rent flats in Ørestad. The sur-vey was carried out exclusively among private individuals. The aim of the survey was to shed light on the profiles of residents in Ørestad and on their motives behind choos-ing flats in Ørestad. Among other things, the survey showed that many young people have chosen to settle in Ørestad. Thus, every third resident is under 30 years of age, and 28 per cent are between 30 and 39. Further-more, the survey showed that many residents have chosen to live in Ørestad because of the short distance to Co-penhagen City, but also that other factors about Ørestad are attractive, for instance the efficient public transporta-tion and the short distance to the beach and nature in general. Being able to partly design their own flats also greatly influences those who settle in the many flexible residential buildings in Ørestad. Among the many aspects of Ørestad, architecture was mentioned as the most posi-tive one, whereas the surveyees saw parking conditions as the most negative one.
That Ørestad is also highly attractive to young people and that the area will also be the home for many young people and children in the future appears in the statistics. According to the national register, in April 2007 there were more children aged 0-6 in Ørestad than in any other part of Copenhagen. The same source also showed that there are far more 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds, but fewer +35-year-olds than in other parts of Copenhagen.
Schools and day care centres
With so many young people and children there are plans to build municipal schools in Ørestad. An area in Ørestad City has been set aside for this purpose, close to the new
upper secondary school, Ørestad Gymnasium. The school will be built in 2008 and 2009 and will open not later than 2009. There will be many day care institutions in Ørestad. The coming schools and institutions will have im-pact on urban life in Ørestad. Together with other urban functions such as workshops, so-called culture houses and cafés the new school and day care institutions con-tribute to a quarter full of life, diversity and quality.
Ørestad Nord
Ørestad Nord is the Ørestad quarter that is closest to the centre of Copenhagen, thereby forming the border zone between ”old Copenhagen” and ”new Copenhagen”. Ørestad directly borders on densely populated urban districts, to the west Islands Brygge, to the east Amagerbro and to the north a future development area – until now, the local plan for that area only stipulates the building of a large Islamic mosque.
Today Ørestad Nord has become Copenhagen´s new centre for art and culture, media and communication tech-nology. The neighbourhood attains its particular importance because of a whole range of central institutions charac-teristic of Copenhagen: the Amager branch of University of Copenhagen (the Faculty of Humanities), the IT Univer-sity and DR Byen (Danish Broadcasting Corporation, DBC-City) with its many functions and the unique concert hall, all extrovert institutions creating a diverse urban life in the northern part of Ørestad.
In the early sketches for Ørestad Nord it was suggested that the area would be a social experimental laboratory for new ways of living together and for new public spaces in modern networking society. Crossing trades and lines of professions and business, Ørestad Nord will breed ide-as and contacts that will result in new ways of living and being together, projects and products.
In Ørestad Nord, University of Copenhagen (KUA), the IT University and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation cooperate in creating a quarter full of life, diversity and sense of community. Through the association Ørestad Nord Gruppen it is the intention of these institutions to encour-age both social urban environment and the professional network between the institutions themselves.
An initiative worked on by this association has been calling for tenders of the canteens of these institutions, so that conventional canteens are substituted by restau-rants and cafés placed in the lower floors of the buildings. Hence, employees and students can go visit each other in the lunch breaks and exchange experiences, create con-tacts and get new ideas and new inspiration. The open
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environment will also make local residents and neighbours use the quarter more actively. The association works on using rooms, buildings and outdoor areas for other purpos-es than the usual, day-time ones. For example, the univer-sity premises may be used for lectures and plays and the new multimedia house in DR Byen may be used to show films and for concerts.
Among the many projects and initiatives are recurrent events such as the Humanities Festival of the University of Copenhagen and the P3 Public Service Festival of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, which took place for the first time in Ørestad Nord in August 2005. Such events make Ørestad Nord more of an asset to the entire Copen-hagen region.
In the planning process for building on the site, which was previously supposed to house a new national record office, choosing functions that may strengthen urban diver-sity in Ørestad Nord has a high priority. A local plan for the area is expected by the middle of 2009.
The overall structure plan for Ørestad Nord was settled in connexion with an architectural competition held in 1997. The architect firm KHRAS won the competition with a principal idea characterized by north-south running wing buildings.
In the further development this principle has been some-what put aside. The architectural competitions for Tietgen-kollegiet and DR Byen broke with more traditional struc-tures and gave Ørestad quite different and modern urban designs.
Already today there is a quite vibrant life in Ørestad, not least during the daytime when there are many people in streets, squares and other areas of the city. Apparently the planned interaction between buildings and functions, be-tween university rooms and city dwellings, between DR Byen and the Metro – and between many more things – works.
Bikuben Kollegiet
At the corner of Njalsgade and Amager Fælledvej Kolle-giefonden Bikuben has built a spectacular, seven-storied hall of residence designed by A.A.R.T. architects. The build-ing houses 96 one-roomed and 4 two-roomed flats, 3 adapted flats and 4 two-floored family flats. The complex has exercise facilities, a studio, a laundry room, a reading room, a lounge with a roof terrace, an assembly hall and common kitchens and rooms for general use.
Karen Blixen Parken
Along Universitetskanalen (the University Canal) with a view over Den Landskabelige Kanal (the Landscape Canal) and Grønningen (the green area) is the residential area Karen Blixen Parken, designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen’s drawing office. The complex is special, because some flats can be owned, some rented and some function according to the combined ”andels” principle, somewhat like condos. The flats are surrounded by light, air and green oases with play-grounds.
Karen Blixen Parken is a traditional residential area with high-quality flats. The balconies turn towards the green wedge of the area – in general Karen Blixen Parken occupies a unique position close to the university and DR Byen.
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Boligslangen
Boligslangen (the Housing Serpent) is the biggest housing project in Ørestad so far. The whole complex will consist of more than 300 flats and a day care centre. At several points the Serpent intertwines with Den Landskabelige Kanal, which runs from KUA in Njalsgade past DR Byen and into Grønjordssøen. In the Serpent there are two dif-ferent buildings under the same roof, Fælledhaven and Universitetshaven. Fælledhaven is comprised of conven-tional flats, Universitetshaven of owner-occupied and ”an-dels” flats. The buildings stand as two blocks, where the roof is hovering over the opening between the two hous-es and yet connecting them, which gives the complex a flexible and curvy touch. The buildings are connected by a gate crossing the canal. Particularly in Fælledhaven, there
are new stairways and outdoor facilities in unconventional shapes and with green areas. The Serpent must be seen as one of the many experiments and innovative approach-es in the development of new housing blocks which abound all over Ørestad and which will keep appearing in the years to come. The architect behind Fælledhaven is Domus Arkitekter A/S. The architect behind Universitet-shaven is Arkitema.
Københavns Universitet Amager (KUA)
Establishing the bridge between central Copenhagen and Ørestad started with the expansion of University of Co-penhagen, Amager (KUA). With the new, light buildings by Universitetskanalen, drawn by KHR Arkitekter, KUA was expanded by 40,000 sqm in 2002.
The expansion gave room for further 5,000 students. Architects were particularly inspired by the old English uni-versity buildings. The original buildings are still used for educational purposes, but in a coming project the original buildings will be demolished and substituted by new ones.
Tietgenkollegiet
The Nordea Danmark Fonden and the Fonden Tietgen-kollegiet are behind building Tietgenkollegiet, which was inaugurated in May 2007. The hall of residence houses about 400 residents. It is formed as a rotunda with seven floors. The building is intersected by five vertical lines which both visually and functionally divide the building into sections. At the same time these lines function as
Tietgenkollegiet got a shape nobody had expected. The north-south running structure of the local plan was substituted by a rotunda, inspired by a Medieval building concept from southern China, with references to the town ideals of the Renaissance.
Boligslangen is a quite new experiment in Danish building, in which blocks of flats are constructed so that some parts are open and char-acterized by green gardens and parks in a vertical structure. Adding the snake-like shape of the complex, an organic and original architec-tural unity is achieved.
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passages, from the outside giving access to the central yard and the floors of the complex. In the ground floor there are shared facilities such as a café, an assembly hall, study and computer rooms, workshops, a laundry room, music and meeting rooms and bicycle parking. The flats are placed on all the other floors, 12 flats in each segment of the building. All rooms have a view over the surround-ing landscape. Communal kitchens and rooms, terraces and sculleries all face the central yard, thereby underlining the atmosphere of community in the building. Lundgaard & Tranberg A/S are the architects behind this new hall of residence.
The IT University
In 2004 the IT University moved to Ørestad Nord. The new buildings of the IT University were designed by Hen-ning Larsens Tegnestue. Characteristic features of build-ing include is the 25-metre tall atrium with incoming light and meeting rooms with TV screens and walls in glass. The IT University has room for 3,000 students and con-tains class and lecture rooms, offices for researchers and scientists, a multimedia lab, a students´ café and a canteen. Furthermore, the building is home to the organization Crossroads Copenhagen and to the IT Growth House.
The KUA plan implies space between the buildings, and the students fill these spaces every day, giving impression of urban life.
In its architectural appearance, the IT University is a computer, a piece of mega design mirroring its own technology. Form and content strive for the same, but the room and the life and behaviour of its users makes it a vibrant urban house in Ørestad.
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DR Byen
In 2006, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) concentrated all its activities in the capital, except the concert halls, at the same address in Ørestad Nord at DR Byen. From the very beginning this was a project of high ambitions. It was planned to be one of the largest media buildings in the world, and the physical framework in itself suggested sky-high ambitions both as to architecture, func-tions and technological advance. At the same time, recent international results in the fields of sustainability and envi-ronment should be considered.
Initially a great architectural competition was held for DR Byen as a whole, with both Danish and international rec-ognized architects. The Danish architect firm Wilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter won the competition with a project focusing on closeness and functional connexions. Partic-ularly the competition for the concert hall segment, won by French star architect Jean Nouvel, attracted interna-tional attention. The forming of the News section was also decided through an architectural competition, as was the final segment 3, housing offices, administration etc.
The first building in the new DR By was inaugurated in 2005. During that year, an increasing number of DR staff moved into the new surroundings in Ørestad Nord. DR Byen is comprised of four segments built in phases and designed by various architect firm. These firms are Wilhelm Lauritzen A/S, DISSING+WEITLING, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Gottlieb & Paludan and NOBEL arkitekter a/s.
The overall plan is inspired by the central part of the cities of the Arab world, the kasbah. Here the extroverted functions in the four segments are squeezed together, an architectural idea to secure connexions and space to live and be creative in. The central element is the inner street linking the four segments.
Segment 1 is the largest one in DR Byen, housing re-ception, studios, editorial offices, depots, etc. The building has large glass fronts giving passersby a free view into the offices and studios.
Segment 2 contains the News and the Sports sections. The centre and heart of the building is a large and open room, characterized by a soft and organic form and by a degree of transparency, as the light comes in on all work stations in the house.
Segment 3 is the smallest of the four segments and the base of the administration of the corporation and of Københavns Radio. The main theme is a very open house of cards, which using a concept of transparency is kept together by large hothouses suitable for breaks and rest.
The concert hall
The fourth segment in DR Byen is the new concert hall with 1,800 seats. Seen from the outside, the building, de-signed by the world famous French architect Jean Nouvel, seems simple: a monumental cobalt blue dome rises 45 metres. But the inside is full of complex, organic structures whose asymmetry gives excellent acoustics.
With its colossal volume the concert hall itself rises into the space of the building, creating room for a spacious and quite unique system of foyers. This is a most advanced construction which required thorough engineering think-ing – making such a large room for 1,600 guests hover four or five floors high is a big challenge. The supporting pillars are placed so that the foyer and the entrance area are given lightness and at the same time full daylight. Thus, transition between outdoors and indoors, or the very arrival at the concert hall, becomes an impressive experi-ence for the audience.
Rendering of the interior architecture of the concert hall in DR Byen. Entering the concert hall is like entering a jewel box. With upholstered chairs and walls in exquisite hardwood the elastic, asymmetric room gets its final quality as a unique auditorium with equally unique acoustics.
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The interior architecture of the hall is like a jewel box. Up-holstered chairs and walls in exquisite hardwood give the elastic, asymmetric room its final quality as a unique audi-torium with particularly sophisticated acoustics.
In the evening the blue exterior screen of the hall may be used for projecting and enlarging pictures, works of art or texts, creating a living wall facing the city. But the screen may also be made invisible, both day and night. Setting lights correctly makes it possible to make the concert hall appear like a hovering body of a building.
Much seems to indicate that the concert hall due to its combination of unique architecture, excellent acoustics and a fantastic symphony orchestra will elevate both DR Byen, Ørestad and Copenhagen to the world elite.
The Amager Fælled Quarter
The Amager Fælled Quarter stretches from Vejlands Allé in the south to Grønjordsvej in the north. The whole north-ern part is comprised of the green areas around Grøn-jordssøen - in May 2007 a viewing bridge was inaugurat-ed here. In 2001 Amager Hospital, also situated in the Amager Fælled Quarter, was inaugurated. The hospital is close to Sundby Metrostation and the natural reserve of
Amager Fælled. The architects behind the hospital are AA Arkitekter A/S.
North of Amager Hospital, the construction and prop-erty development company NCC, in cooperation with the architect firm Boldsen and Holm, designed the residential area Solstriben (: the Sunny Patch), parallel with the low parts of the Metro. Solstriben is formed in a simple and clear plan, with 2-5-floored, unpretentious houses.
As to the future of the area, it should be pointed out that the western part of the Amager Fælled Quarter is planned to be finished as the last one in Ørestad. Accord-ing to the sequence of development in the plan made by the City of Copenhagen, it is expected to be built in some years. If changes in the sequences of this plan are made, building this quarter will happen earlier.
The quarter occupies a very sensitive landscape, which constitutes a great challenge for the city planners and archi-tects who are to design the main features of this area.
Solstriben is made up by predominantly close-low buildings placed along the eastern Metro bank. The complex is characterized by gar-dens and forms a gentle transition between the open landscape, the Metro, Ørestad and the traditional one-family houses in the older residential areas on Amager.
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Ørestad City
Ørestad City is the quarter in the cross field. It is defined by the area where the north-south running Metro and road connexion crosses the east-west link to Sweden and Jutland. Hence, Ørestad is the most central area in the Sound region.
Ørestad City will be a dense quarter, but already today this district boasts a vibrant and diverse urban life based on the special and mixed functions found here, e.g. shop-ping centre, upper secondary school, flats and the Metro and regional train station.
The central urban space is Kay Fiskers Plads. Character-istic is the basin with the pyramid-shaped concrete light devices. The water from the basin runs through the water lily cascades to the big canal. Every year Kay Fiskers Plads is the starting point or centre of events such as Dansefestivalen (dance festival) and Ørestadsløbet.
Ferring International Center
On the highest point in Ørestad stands a majestic land-mark, the tower of the Ferring headquarters. In Ferring Inter-national Center key functions such as product development, registration of pharmaceuticals and international market-ing are carried out.
The building was designed by Henning Larsens Tegne-stue and consists of two parts formed according to their functions. Ferring´s laboratory is placed in a three-storey building closing in on two ”green” courtyards. Turning east-wards, away from the crowds at Kay Fiskers Plads and the Metro station, there is room her for quiet and concen-
tration. The administration sit in the twenty-storey trans-parent tower, built in glass and a black painted facing.
With its new headquarters Ferring consolidated its activities in Malmö, Copenhagen and Kiel. The Ferring tower will not be the last one in Ørestad. Within some years eight more towers will be built in Ørestad City and Ørestad Syd.
Field´s
The shopping centre Field’s is the largest shopping and leisure centre in Scandinavia. Besides a wide choice of shops, the centre also boasts many different restaurants and leisure activities, e.g. a children´s fun centre, a 12 hole indoor golf course, hairdressers and a fitness centre. In the future there will also be offices, a hotel and a cine-ma. Field’s employs both Danish and Swedish staff, a pol-icy that strengthens Danish-Swedish integration and the position of Ørestad City as centre and hub of Ørestad.
Dance festival in Ørestad City at Kay Fiskers Plads in front of Field´s. The dance festival is an annually recurrent event attracting many people, both participants and spectators.
The majestic Ferring building has become a landmark of Ørestad. The tower in Ørestad City will not be the last one: in the future eight more towers will be built in Ørestad.
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VM Husene
VM Husene (the VM Buildings) are some quite conspicu-ous flat buildings in Ørestad City. The complex consists of two buildings forming, seen from above, a V and an M re-spectively. The flats have pointed balconies facing south and rooms with up to 5 metre high ceilings. In order not to limit the incoming light the architects behind the project, PLOT, have not used partitions on the balconies.
Outdoors light and space have also had high priority. VM Husene have been built on five metre tall pillars, so there is light and openness in the northern atrium court-yard, whereas a sunny front garden presents itself at the large green of the complex.
The 212 condos and owner-occupied flats share facil-ities such as bicycle parking, assembly halls and an inte-grated day care centre, which are all parts of the complex.
VM Bjerget
VM Bjerget (the VM Mountain) is close to VM Husene and interplaying geometrically, thus preserving the views over the park in Ørestad City and the older residential ar-eas on Amager. From the tenth floor in the northwestern corner of VM Bjerget to the ground floor in the south-eastern corner 80 flats with roof terraces and lush ter-race gardens will spread on the foundation, which con-sists of a gigantic parking house holding about 480 cars.
As it happens, the flats have been built on an artificial slope. The parking house is built into the bank with unusual, high-ceilinged and cathedral-like rooms. Bjarke Ingels from BIG is the architect. The clients as to the flats are Dansk Olie Kompagni A/S and Høpfner A/S, while Øre-stadsparkering A/S has ordered the parking house. The complex will be finished in 2009.
VM Husene is an experiment with new housing forms and different transitions between the houses and their arrival area. The buildings are tall, but because of the dominant glass fronts a very expressive flat concept is created.
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KLP
Dissing+Weitling designed the eight storey office building of KLP Ejendomme A/S, where the design of the front interplays with both canal and Arne Jacobsens Allé. Various flat sizes are for rent. KLP Ejendomme is about to expand with two more office buildings in Ørestad City, one, drawn by Gottlieb & Paludan, close to Ferring, the other one also in Arne Jacobsens Allé next to KLP’s first building.
Ørestad Down Town
The world-famous Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind has created a master plan for a large area in Ørestad City.
The plan is based on open, attractive public spaces as the primary elements. These urban spaces will run in se-quences which, together with the adjoining buildings, may remind of the old centre of Copenhagen or similar places in New York, Berlin and Barcelona. There is no doubt that the area will be an important hub in Ørestad in the future.
Presently Hotel CABINN Metro is being built. It will be Denmark’s biggest hotel with a capacity of more than 700 beds. CABINN Metro was also drawn by Studio Daniel Libeskind and will be an attraction in itself. Driving down Center Boulevard in 2009, one will experience Libeskind’s red gables and blue and grey fronts with alu-minium profiles challenging conventional expectations of well-ordered, horizontal lines and distinct floor divi-sions.
Situated most visibly in the district, the hotel will be a typical example of Libeskind’s characteristic play with form and lines.
Besides the master plan for Ørestad Down Town and the designing of the new CABINN Hotel, Studio Daniel Libeskind is also in the first phases of a project on the towers in the plan.
As a piece of solid and beautiful architecture the KLP building guar-antees the shape and space of the city and sets an example for modern urban builders.
In Ørestad Down Town, American star architect Daniel Libeskind, who focuses on simple, direct and naïve forms and expressive architecture, dominates – here suggested by landmarking tower blocks that would visualize the uniqueness of Ørestad.
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Around Ørestad City Park
Byparken is the green heart of Ørestad and is situated on a 170 x 450 metre area – the same size as Ørstedsparken in central Copenhagen.
Ørestad City Bypark is supposed to be a mini-version of Central Park in New York City. Surrounded by buildings it will appear as a piece of nature in the middle of a city of rising, spectacular blocks. The buildings contain between 120 and 170 flats on 8-12 floors. The houseowners´ as-sociation cooperates with the residents about designing the park. Already now the park is used by residents and neighbours, who play ball and exercise their dogs etc., and in the future there will be grilling areas and play-grounds. The trees of the park have been planted and in due course they will offer shelter and shade.
To secure high quality and coordination, the Ørestad Development Corporation asked a number of leading architect firms to design a building project each while suggesting some common guiding lines for the entire park project. Therefore, the buildings had been drawn before the sites were sold, whereupon it was the task of the Ørestad Development Corporation to sell the fully designed building sites.
By choosing this untraditional way of developing the district the Corporation has avoided a park full of mis-matching buildings – instead a harmonious and coherent element in the city has been secured. There are eight sites with connected building projects.
Pension Danmark has ordered the flats, Horisonten, that consist of 180 flats to be owned or rented.
The flats have views over Amager Fælled and Ørestad City Park. The sizes vary between 70 and 147 sqm. In 2005, Pension Danmark bought another 7,600 sqm for building even more flats near the park.
Aktivgruppen and Lejerbo built Parkhusene in two phases. First phase consists of 63 flats for rent on 11 floors. Second phase consists of 57 condos on 8 floors. In some parts of the buildings the top floor has been con-verted into a 150 sqm roof garden. On the ground floor there will be a café, a supermarket and other facilities. The architect behind the project is Arkitema.
The building society KAB builds Sejlhuset. Sejlhuset was designed by the architects in Vandkunsten, who have created a partly open block being between 8 and 12 sto-ries tall. On the eighth floor a communal roof terrace has been constructed. The building contains 118 flats with between two and four rooms. Each flat will have two bal-conies with moveable ”sails” screening against the sun and the wind. These ”sails” have inspired to the name of the building and will affect the interior climate positively,
particularly in the summer. On the ground floor there is a municipal day care centre, and there are communal rooms for the residents.
Arkitektgruppen developed City Husene. City Husene, all owners’ flats, contain two to four rooms and have large panes of glass securing ample natural light. The flats have views in at least two directions and their sizes vary between 83 and 113 sqm. The architect is Vandkunsten.
Nordbornholms Byggeforening and Cargill build Copen-hagen Golf Park, which will hold both dwellings and offices and other non-residential activities. The non-residential activities will be placed in Arne Jacobsens Allé. The build-ings will consist of 148 flats whose residents will enjoy the views over Amager Fælled and the coming golf course. Domus Arkitekter A/S designed Copenhagen Golf Park.
Kuben Byg A/S has ordered Det Flexible Hus, having 124 flats to be owned. Det Flexible Hus was designed by Arkitema. Arkitema has created a housing block in which the exterior architecture reflects the variation of the interior.
Ørestad City Bypark, City Husene in the background.
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White surfaces interplay with large panes of glass – and steel and wood form the contrasts. Det Flexible Hus is built in 8 floors changing with 11 and 12 storey towers.
Sjælsø Gruppen A/S builds Ørestadshuset, contain-ing 127 owner-occupied flats, varying between 78 and 105 sqm and two to four rooms. The architects, Lundgaard and Tranberg A/S, were inspired by the houses in New York City, where many people live close together in vibrant urban surroundings. The buildings have open bay win-dows in connexion with the balconies, placed for optimal sunlight. The floor of one balcony functions as the roof of the balcony below, yielding shelter on parts of the balcony.
Signalhuset
Ørestad City also offers dwellings for young people. At the corner of Arne Jacobsens Allé and Edvard Thomsens Vej, Lejerbo builds flats for young people following a quite new concept. Signalhuset contains about 290 flats on nine floors for young people. Signalhuset is constructed on the basis of a new and exciting concept, where four residents
have their own rooms but share a combined kitchen and living room and two toilettes with showers. This unit of 110 sqm may easily be converted into a conventional one-family flat. Nobel Arkitekter designed Signalhuset
Ørestad Gymnasium
Ørestad City is not only offices, shops and dwellings, but also a district full of many young students from Ørestad Gymnasium, the first new Gymnasium in Copenhagen in 35 years. It was inaugurated in May 2007. The architects 3xNielsen have created the first Gymnasium in Denmark living up to the new visions of content, subjects, organi-zation and learning systems which are essential in the re-form of the Danish Gymnasium that came into operation in 2005. Flexibility and openness are the key words in the new Gymnasium building that does not have neither traditional classrooms and communal rooms nor the traditional division between students and teachers. The Gymnasium has been divided into four zones on each floor, connected by a wide, spiral staircase, which forms the main axis of the building. The Gymnasium consists of open rooms, working zones, nooks for creativity and thinking and areas for social activities.
Ørestad Gymnasium is a public, free and open school with a high profile as to media, communication and culture. Anyone living in the Sound region can apply for admis-sion, i.e. both young Danes and Swedes, thereby making Ørestad Gymnasium an important regional factor in the Danish-Swedish integration. Interest has been significant. It is the most applied-for Gymnasium in Denmark, and with its 800 students Ørestad Gymnasium will also play an important role when it comes to adding life to the district.
Signalhuset contains flats for young people and is therefore one of many projects that attract many young people to Ørestad.
The exterior architecture of Ørestad Gymnasium signals books and knowledge, where the interior signals openness and flexibility.
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Ørestad Syd
The quarter Ørestad Syd, stretching from the Øresund motorway to the city limits at Kalvebod Fælled, may from an overall perspective be characterized as the city in the open landscape. This is the southernmost part of Ørestad, and there is a clear demarcation between the district and the preserved areas of Western Amager.
In Ørestad Syd the architect firm ARKKI wanted to clearly define urban units contrasting the landscape. Thus, the buildings in Ørestad will add to the emphasis on the landscape, the sky and spaces. Furthermore, focus is on building densely, giving the synergy effect that people live and work close to each other – the precondition of the birth of a city.
Ørestad Syd is the modern version of traditional and historical ideals of the good city – a dense city whose major squares, streets and alleys all together form urban diversity organized in a simple structure.
The structure is that of three north-south running green fingers, each with its own special urban landscape.
New urban places and spaces
Ørestad City is a new way of building a city, where urban spaces are created before the houses.
It appears in the local plan for Ørestad Syd that the position between the preserved Kalvebod Fælled and the Metro must be used to make Ørestad Syd an attractive, integrated urban area. Through a balance between resi-dential and non-residential, it is the aim to create optimal conditions for a multi-functional use that may support a diverse city life, counteract architectural uniformity and monotony and secure safe surroundings full of life.
Proportionally, there will be more dwellings in areas viewing green areas and fewer dwellings in areas close to heavy traffic, but all blocks will be residential/non-resi-dential mixed. The majority of the flats will be large flats suited for families, which are still in shortage in Copenhagen. About 500 smaller flats will also be built, including halls of residence.
The local plan also describes a hierarchy of urban spaces offering different kinds of uses and commercial, cultural and recreational activities. Along the main pedes-trian street, shops, restaurants and other public functions are prioritised – at the same time cultural, social and leisure
Building out and completing Ørestad Syd promises to become an example of a breakthrough in modern city building. The overall vision and the local plan stipulate a varied combination of urban spaces, from the north-south running green belts over streets and alleys to more dense and urban surroundings. The houses and blocks forming the city have been designed with much variation and architectural innovation. In the devel-opment process the focus has been on urban closeness in all its facets. From an international perspective Ørestad Syd is developing into one of the most interesting urban development areas in recent times.
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functions should be integrated. Thus, a varied and vibrant environment is created. All in all, eight places will function as local meeting points and social landmarks in the quarter.
Based on the local plan for Ørestad Syd, in an archi-tectural competition in 2006 the Øresund Development Corporation invited suggestions for a master plan for the urban spaces in Ørestad Syd. Seven squares and three oblong urban spaces were to be designed for the new quarter. It was required that these urban spaces should support urban life around the clock and keep a balance between quiet and activity.
The winners of the competition were found in 2007 – GHB Landskabsarkitekter A/S and Bystrup Arkitekter A/S shared the first prize. GHB’s proposals all feature water as a theme. At the award ceremony the overall proposal was described as ”charming, seductive and of a high ar-chitectural quality”. The judges thought that Bystrup’s pro-posal used two places facing Amager Fælled better, and therefore GHB´s first prize was slightly smaller. At these two places the themes are light and wind.
A unique quarter
Copenhagen will have a quite new neighbourhood in Øre-stad Syd. The designs of blocks and flats will be interna-tional and experimental. The residents will experience both living in a capital and in the middle of nature. Ørestad Syd will be a vibrant place of 10,000 residents. Life here will be generated from the many functions in the quarter, such as shops, cafés, parks, canals, etc. All these functions will be surrounded by 2,000 hectare preserved nature.
Ørestad will be the most populated area in Ørestad, its dwellings housing about 10,000 people. Commuters, resi-dents, employees, school children and others will stir the area to life every hour of the day.
Apart from a comprehensive school, which the City of Copenhagen is currently planning, there will be a need for day care institutions, just as a health care centre and a church may be built in the quarter.
Most shops, institutions and other public functions will be placed along the main pedestrian street, which will start at Vestamager Metro station.
South and west of Ørestad Syd we find Kalvebod Fælled. The transition from the dense city to the wide open landscape will be dramatic. This transition may best be compared with the transition between Copenhagen and the Sound. The artist Hein Heinsen’s 7.5 metre tall bronze sculpture, ”The Great Changer”, is thought as a symbol of the transition from city to countryside.
The more than 2,000 hectare large common offers a rich plant and animal life in an open landscape. There is a reserve her, a sanctuary for ducks, geese and wading birds. At Kalvebod Fælled we find Naturcenter Vestamager and its changing exhibitions of nature in the area. Close to the Naturcenter lies the playground Naturlegepladsen Himmelhøj, created by Italian landscape architect Alfio Bonnano.
Development in Ørestad Syd has been fast. Politically, the local plan was passed by the city council in December 2005 and January 2006. Roads and squares are built now, lakes are dug out, etc., and the first flats have been put up for sale. Housing blocks will start to rise in 2007 and 2008. Ørestad is expected finished within the next 10 to 15 years. Among the many building projects, all having a view over Kalvebod Fælled, will be:
A big block around the central square of Ørestad Syd. JM Danmark will build 180 dwellings drawn by 3xNielsen. Samvirkende Boligselskaber and KAB will build 75 council flats drawn by Domus Arkitekter A/S.
Essex Park Ørestad, which will have 175 owner-occu-pied flats and 80 tenancies designed by, among others, Vandkunsten and Arkitema. This block will also house shops and cafés.
Fri Kvarteret, which will be built by Kuben and AREEA. There will be about 300 dwellings with roof landscapes and atrium gardens designed to become active parts of the flats. The block plan for Fri Kvarteret has been made by an international architect team counting Entasis (Copen-hagen), Wingårdh (Gothenburg), Jensen & Skodvin (Oslo) and Vogt (Zurich).
Lake City, built be Arkitekt-Gruppen, having both owner-occupied flats and tenancies. The buildings consist of both blocks, dense-low building and a kindergarden, communal rooms, and a mini marina with lake access. The drawing office Vandkunsten made the master plan for the complex.
The architectural competition for the urban spaces in Ørestad, held by the Øresund Development Corporation, was won by landscape architects GHB Landskabsarkitekter A/S and Bystrup Arkitekter. GHB’s proposals – like the one above – all feature water as a theme.
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BIG HOUSE. The consortium Frederikssund Holding A/S, Dansk Oliekompagni and Høpfner A/S are behind this building. There will be commercial activities, a day care centre and about 580 flats. Bjarke Ingels Group are the architects. There will be terrace houses, flats and pent-houses. The project was inspired by traditional Danish co-operative building and functionalist architecture, as well as by Me-diterranean and conventional Danish architec-ture. When completed, BIG HOUSE will be the largest residential buildings in Ørestad.
Holistic House, a culture house for body and soul. Modelled on the Icelandic concept, The Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik, a wellness centre will be built in Ørestad Syd. It will be a combination of a health centre and a recrea-tional hotel.
Stævnen. The client is Sjælsø Gruppen A/S, who will build a 165-flat residential project. To the east and the south the buildings will border directly on a coming lake area. To the west the complex will be demarcated by a wide canal street. The flats are designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen’s drawing office. The first stone was laid at the beginning of June.
Hannemanns Allé
The Sjælsø Gruppen project Copenhagen Towers and the NCC buildings designed by Norwegian architect Nils Torp constitute, together with the southern part of Nordkranen, the large urban space along Hannemanns Allé. Nils Torp´s project consists of low buildings varying much in form on streets binding small, intimate urban places to a whole.
Close to the low buildings two sculpturally formed tower blocks will rise.
In the southern part of Nordkranen a number of different architects work on a variation of dwellings and commercial buildings. Force4 and 3xNielsen design terrace houses, the Dutch architects MVRDV and HST Arkitekter designed flats with special balconies, Hvidt & Mølgaard concen-trates on the theme living rooms and outdoor rooms, and Jan Søndergaard from KHRAS offers his bid for a renewal of the modern flat. As to urban space and landscape, Hannemanns Allé itself will be worked on by landscape architect Lisbeth Westergaard.
EUROPAN
One of the blocks in Ørestad Syd is at the disposal of the European EUROPAN project. Young architects, i.e. under the age of 40, from all over Europe were invited to partici-pate in a competition about new architecture in a new framework.
The competition took place in all EU countries, and as many as 69 interested groups announced their partici- pation. Organizing the project took place in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the City of Copenhagen. Win-ners were found in the autumn of 2007.
Copenhagen Towers
Sjælsø Gruppen A/S is behind one of the most conspicuous projects in Ørestad at all, namely Copenhagen Towers, which will be erected in Ørestad Syd.
Model of BIG HOUSE, designed by the young drawing office BIG. With a playful and mischievous architecture, BIG HOUSE offers a quite different and unexpected interpretation of the block structure of Ørestad Syd: a mountain village as a provocation in the classic city, or a new, modern interpretation of the cheap building style in the last decades.
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In March 2006 Sjælsø Gruppen A/S bought 129,000 floor sqm building rights for a commercial complex south of the Øresund motorway in Ørestad. Since the contract was made, Sjælsø Gruppen A/S and the Ørestad Develop-ment Corporation worked on architecture and concept of the project.
It is the world famous English architect firm, Foster + Partners, in cooperation with the Danish architect firm, DISSING+WEITLING, that stand behind devising the master plan and projecting the first phases. Among other buildings, the project, which will face the Øresund motor-way, will consist of three 80-metre tower blocks. In addi-
tion to office facilities for big and small companies, the complex will house a hotel with 250 rooms, 130 hotel flats, meeting facilities and cafés, fitness centres and a series of shops.
In the same area SEB Pension and the engineering and consulting firm Rambøll agreed on a big joint office build-ing project. Rambøll will be the primary tenant with about 1,000 employees.
Together with Sir Norman Foster, the great English architect, the Danish architect firm Dissing+Weitling designed a convincing composition of elegant tower blocks, Copenhagen Towers, in the centre of Ørestad City.
Photo credits
Frontpage: Ole Malling, Mikal Schlosser, Lene Skytthe, René Strandbygaard,
Ole Ziegler, Lundgaard & Tranberg, Eyecadcher.
Page 7: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 10: Mogens Bech
Page 11: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 12: Mogens Bech
Page 13: Dennis Rosenfeldt
Page 14: Dennis Rosenfeldt
Page 15: Dennis Rosenfeldt, Jan Kofod Winther
Page 16: COWI (midten)
Page 17: Dennis Rosenfeldt, Jan Kofod Winther
Page 18: Dennis Rosenfeldt
Page 19: Eyecadcher
Page 20: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 21: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 22: Eyecadcher
Page 23: Future Systems
Page 24: Scanpix/Torben Christensen
Page 25: Dennis Rosenfeldt, Eyecadcher
Page 26: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 27: Plot/West 8
Page 28: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 29: Jan Kofod Winther
Page 31: Julie Dufour Wiese
Page 33: Lene Skytthe
Page 34: Lene Skytthe, Teit Hornbak
Page 35: Lene Skytthe, Mikal Schlosser
Page 37: Lene Skytthe
Page 38: Lene Skytthe
Page 39: Mikal Schlosser, René Strandbygaard
Page 40: Lene Skytthe, DR Byen
Page 41: Søren Hytting
Page 42: Rene Strandbygaard, Lene Skytthe
Page 43: Lene Skytthe, BIG
Page 44: Lene Skytthe, Studio Daniel Liebeskind
Page 45: Ole Ziegler
Page 46: Lene Skytthe, Mikal Schlosser
Page 47: tre.d
Page 49: BIG
Page 50: Eyecadcher
ISBN: 978-87-92302-02-1
Status, urban developmentCopyright: The Port & City Development CorporationText: Mads ChristiansenGraphic design: Lars GreenText and photo editing: Mads ChristiansenLast revision: 2007
The Port & City Development Corporation I/S
7 Nordre Toldbod PO Box 2083 DK-1013 Copenhagen K
Tel: (+45) 3376 9800www.arealudvikling.dk
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