Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 4/25/16

8 House (Tallet)
Copenhagen, Denmark
18,300 sf. Greenroofs & 1,076 sf Planted Terraces

Project of the Week Description & Details

8 House is a 61,000 square meter bowtie-shaped mixed-use building of three different types of residential housing and 10,000 square meters of retail and offices which comprise Denmark’s largest private development ever undertaken. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), 8 House sits on the outer edge of Copenhagen as the southernmost outpost of Ørestad. 8 House stacks all ingredients of a lively urban neighborhood into horizontal layers of typologies connected by a continuous promenade and cycling path up to the 10th floor, creating a three-dimensional urban neighborhood where suburban life merges with the energy of a big city.

With spectacular views towards the Copenhagen Canal and over Kalvebod Fælled’s protected, open spaces, 8 House not only offers residences to people in all of life’s stages as well as office spaces to the city’s business and trade – it also serves as a house that allows people to bike all the way from the ground floor to the top, moving alongside townhouses with gardens winding through an urban perimeter block. Two 32 degree-sloping green roofs are strategically placed to reduce the urban heat island effect as well as provide the visual identity to the project and tying it back to the adjacent farmlands towards the south. Using pre-vegetated mats from Veg Tech AS, the build-up is about 4 cm, which includes an installed irrigation system. In addition, 100 individual semi-intensive, 1-square meter gardens with planters from ZinCo were planted on the terraces, installed by MALMOS. Originally, the entire roof was designed as a continuous green roof, yet due to the economic climate only the lower portions were greened. The shape of the building allows for daylighting and natural ventilation for all units. In addition, rainwater is collected and repurposed through a stormwater management system. 8 House is unique not only because it reduces the urban heat island effect with its cool courtyards, planted trees at entrances, container plantings on the balconies, and 18,300-square foot green roofs, but the living roofs visually connect back to its pre-construction site on the prairie fields, creating a true sense of spirit of place.

Year: 2010
Owner: St. Frederikslund Holding
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Building Type: Multi-Use
Type: Extensive & Semi-Intensive
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 19,376 sq. ft.
Slope: 62.5%
Access: Inaccessible (Extensive) and Accessible (Semi-Intensive), Private

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
Contractor: Hopfner Partners
Civil Engineer: Moe & Brødsgaard
Roofing Contractor: Uldum Tag ApS
Roof Decks: Skandek Tagelementfabrik A/S
Pre-vegetated Mat Greenroof System: Veg Tech A/S
Partner-In-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen, Bjarke Ingels Group
Project Leader: Ole Elkjaer-Larsen, Henrick Poulsen, Bjarke Ingels Group
Project Manager: Finn Norkjaer, Henrik Lund, Bjarke Ingels Group
Planter Installation in Townhouse Gardens: Per Malmos, MALMOS
Semi-intensive Planters: ZinCo GmbH

View the PROJECT PROFILE to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

NOTES: Don’t miss our contributing editor Steven Cantor‘s new article, “Copenhagen Green Tour” where you can see more photos of 8 House!  To see more photos, read my last Sky Gardens Blog post about 8 House here.

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the 8 House (Tallet) Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

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By Linda S. Velazquez
Greenroofs.com Publisher