Greenroofs.comConnecting the Planet + Living Architecture
CopenHill
Copenhagen, Denmark
107,639 sf. Greenroof
(Video)
Greenroofs.com Featured Project January 8, 2022
CopenHill. Image: Rasmus Hjortshoj, courtesy BIG
Happy New Year to all, and here’s to a Much Better Year in 2022!
What better way to celebrate a new beginning than with the 2021 Building of the Year? Years in the making, CopenHill has become of symbol of ecologically sensitive industrial design and a striking physical landmark for a country which is mostly flat.
We’ve been covering CopenHill, or the ARC (Amager Resource Center) since it was on the boards, and are not surprised that, despite delays and some difficulties, the ingenious structure has received so much praise.
Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu, courtesy BIG
Replacing Copenhagen’s adjacent 50-year old waste-to-energy plant, the new power plant’s secondary function as a recreational greenroof has been designed to encourage rewilding of the area:
Amager Bakke acts as a generous ‘green bomb’ that will radically green-up the adjacent industrial area. Copenhill Rooftop Park becomes the home for birds, bees, butterflies and flowers, creating a vibrant green pocket and forming a completely new urban ecosystem for the city of Copenhagen.” ~ Rasmus Astrup, Partner & Design Principal, SLA
CopenHill. Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu, courtesy of BIG
Excerpt from the Greenroofs.com Project Profile:
Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group or BIG, CopenHill is a 41,000m2 waste-to-energy plant with a 10,000m2 greenroof that is also an urban recreation center and environmental education hub, turning social infrastructure into an architectural landmark. Also known as Amager Bakke and Amager Resource Center, CopenHill is topped with an artificial ski slope made of a green plastic called Neveplast, a hiking trail, and climbing wall.
Embodying BIG’s notion of hedonistic sustainability, CopenHill aligns with Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.
Image: SLA, courtesy of BIG
CopenHill. Image: Rasmus Hjortshoj, courtesy BIG
Beneath the slopes, whirring furnaces, steam, and turbines convert 440,000 tons of waste annually into enough clean energy to deliver electricity and district heating for 150,000 homes. Ten floors of administrative space include a 600m2 education center for academic tours, workshops, and sustainability conferences.
With slopes up to 45% at the top, experts can glide down the dry ski slope, test the freestyle park or try the timed slalom course, while beginners and kids practice on the lower slopes.
CopenHill or ARC. Image: Rasmus Hjortshoj, courtesy BIG
Non-skiers can enjoy the rooftop bar, cross-fit area, climbing wall or highest viewing plateau in the city before descending the 490m tree-lined hiking and running trail within its lush, mountainous terrain designed by landscape architects SLA. Enveloping 7,000 bushes and 300 trees, the ZinCo greenroof addresses the challenging micro-climate of an 85m high park and rewilding a biodiverse landscape while absorbing heat, removing air particulates, and minimizing stormwater runoff.
SLA’s biologists have monitored its biodiversity since inauguration in 2019. In 2020, 119 different plant and tree species were observed, which was 56 more species than the year before. In an otherwise-flat country, the popularity of the urban mountain in its first two years since opening has required replacing parts of the ski base.
SLA biologists surveying CopenHill’s growing biodiversity. Image: SLA
More
CopenHill was selected as the 2021 World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival, receiving praise the way the building “addresses the role of architecture in the new world of recycling and zero carbon. It treats infrastructure projects in a way which makes people say, ‘Yes in my back yard’ rather than ‘no.’”
Formerly a piece of technical infrastructure in an industrial zone, CopenHill has become the new destination for families, friends and celebration, one that is economically, environmentally and socially profitable and a sustainable and biodiverse asset for the entire City of Copenhagen.
Image: SLA, courtesy BIG
Year: 2019
Owner: Amager Ressource Center, Copenhagen Municipality
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Building Program: Multi-Use Industrial
Roof Type: Intensive
Greenroof System: Custom
Test/Research: Yes
Size: 107,639 sq. ft.
Slope: Up to 45%
Access: Accessible
Privacy: Public
Credits:
ARCHITECT:
BJARKE INGELS GROUP (BIG)
BIG PARTNERS-IN-CHARGE:
BJARKE INGELS, DAVID ZAHLE, JAKOB LANGE, BRIAN YANG
BIG PROJECT LEADERS:
JESPER BOYE ANDERSEN, CLAUS HERMANSEN, NANNA GYLDHOLM MØLLER
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES:
SLA
BIG COLLABORATORS, DETAILED DESIGN:
SLA, LÜCHINGER+MEYER, MOE, RAMBØLL, JESPER KONGSHAUG AND BIG IDEAS
BIG COLLABORATORS, COMPETITION:
AKT, TOPOTEK 1, MAN MADE LAND
GREENROOF SYSTEM:
ZINCO GMBH
Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu, courtesy BIG
See the Project Profile
See the CopenHill Project Profile to view ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.
CopenHill. Image: Rasmus Hjortshoj, courtesy BIG
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By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host
