Successful compromise: Krøyers Plads housing development in Copenhagen

The port at Krøyers Plads in Copenhagen was in operation for almost 200 years. This was followed by 20 years of unsuccessful attempts to redevelop this site in the heart of the city centre. In particular the project by Erick van Egeraat failed due to the resistance of the local population who criticised the planned building height. A further difficulty was that the obligation for buyers to live in their apartments, which is usual in Copenhagen, does not apply to these new buildings. This means that wealthy private persons or investors can buy the apartment and leave them empty most of the year.

Therefore the real estate company NCC proceeded with great caution in their most recent attempt to develop the area. In three dialogues local residents were given an opportunity to express their expectations: above all a variety of public open spaces, a maximum building height of 30 metres, and unobstructed access to the water for all.

The three new buildings (only one of which was originally intended to be used for flats) contain 107 apartments, a number with highly unconventional floor plans and an average floor area of 180 m². Shops and restaurants have rented space in parts of the ground floor areas.

The team of architects drew their inspiration from the historic surrounding warehouses. The two buildings at right angle to the pier were given a front-hung tile cladding on prefabricated facade modules built of lightweight steel. The window reveals and loggias are clad with black anodised aluminium. In the third new building on the street the east facade and the two short ends were given brick facing walls.

At Krøyers Plads for the first time an entire building project was certified with the "Nordic Ecolabel", generally used to denote individual eco-friendly construction materials that involve low emissions. Finding non-hazardous adhesives and sealants on the market required intensive research. Today the client offers this certification as an additional option in all his housing projects.