Havneholm

Client

Skanska
Collaborators

Midtconsult AS, Schønherr Landskab, Skanska
Location

Havneholmen, 1500 Copenhagen V
Area

15,768 m2
Status

Completed in 2008

Housing

Havneholmen

Havneholmen consists of four wedge-shaped structures that mark the outermost approach to the Tømmergraven houseboat harbour. At street level, there is a landscaped route from the point of arrival, Havneholmen, all the way out to the harbour basin and the wooden promenade at the wharf. The buildings take advantage of the curved shape of the site and are placed in a fan shape that follows the sun’s passage across the sky.

The buildings extend all the way out to the quayside. Like the outdoor spaces, all 148 flats face the area’s obvious amenity value – the water.

Large balconies provide the residents with optimum views of the city and the water. The slanting, cut roof profile of the buildings means the uppermost flats feature large roof terraces.

Materiality and appearance

The buildings have a monolithic look in handmade, lightly fired, yellowish brick. The façades indicate a clearly readable verticality, highlighted by the niches and recesses by the balconies. In addition to the vertical window sections, the ascending brick structures are interrupted by the horizontal, galvanized-steel balconies, which are unsentimentally draped on the flats’ exteriors.

The apartments

All the flats receive daylight from both sides and feature at least two large balconies or terraces, positioned on either side of the building. The roof profile helps to define the flats at the very top of the buildings. Here the rooms in the flats have higher ceilings with large window sections, drawing the harbour and the sky into the homes.

In the basement, there are storage rooms for kayaks etc.

The robustness of the buildings reflects the raw character of the southern part of Copenhagen Harbour.