At Vandkunsten Architects we design architecture for people. Our houses are designed for the ways that people live, work, play, and think. Housing, buildings, and cities must be at eye level and make room for communities.

Cool down by the water

House in the har­bour

projects

<p>The site is Teglværkshavnen in the Copenhagen Harbour. Large scale, large building volumes and large spaces between buildings.</p> <p>Qualities at the water’s edge are: the water! the reflections, the long views and the big skies.</p> <p>However, the entire district appears unstructured. It is wind-swept and dominated by large commercial headquarters.</p> <p>Our building complex is designed for this context. We attempt to establish a humanist medium scale among the commercial mastodons. A number of precisely defined building volumes with living units that are designed for living and fit into the large-scale surroundings.</p>

Life be­fore the city – a city for life

projects

<p>The industrial harbour and the railway terrain in the city of Køge is to be developed into a vibrant and sustainable urban district. A district that is to knit all of Køge more closely together in a process lasting until 2040, strengthening the city’s efforts to become an attractive spot in the Copenhagen and greater Øresund region, the area extending on both sides of the strait between Denmark and Sweden. Vandkunsten has been involved in this highly ambitious project from the outset.</p> <p>The urban development project was launched in 2009 by Køge Municipality and the development fund Realdania with a competition for a development plan for the area. Vandkunsten won the competition  as part of a consortium involving several other partners. In 2011, the motto ‘Life before the city – a city for life’ was selected as the overarching concept for the project.</p> <p>The development plan contains both a plan for the physical design of Køge Coast and a number of strategies for the focus areas that are going to drive the development of the area. These interdisciplinary focus areas involve culture, sustainability, construction and business promotion.</p>

Build­ing groups in­flu­ence their fu­ture homes

projects

<p>At a plot in the new development of Køge Kyst a housing project shaped by the future inhabitants is taking shape. This way of building originates in Germany, so-called ‘baugruppen’, and is an attractive building model as the inhabitants are given influence over the physical frames they are going to move into, both their private dwellings and shared spaces. In addition to this, the costs of the developer are saved. Building groups are a great supplement to the Danish housing market, contributing to a more diverse offer.</p> <p>The process of developing these projects consists of several phases, including the establishing of an association by the inhabitants. Within the association the framework for the building and design process are provided. It is also the association that hires a contractor for the construction of the building. To prepare the ground for these projects to happen, Vandkunsten together with the fund Selskabet for Billige Boliger and Køge Kyst Development Company established a partnership.</p>

Approach:
Arkitektur er midlet, fællesskab er målet

New homes in the old tor­pedo boat work­shop

projects

<p>The MTB hall was built in 1954 as a place for repairing and maintaining boats for the Danish Navy, especially motor torpedo boats. The architecture reflects the prevailing enthusiasm at the time for large structures in reinforced concrete and steel with a main space of 32 x 160 x 15 metres.</p> <p>When the Danish Navy abandoned Holmen, an islet in Copenhagen Harbour,  in the 1990s, the area was selected for urban development. The building tycoon Kurt Thorsen saw the potential for converting the huge empty concrete structure into a residential complex and approached Vandkunsten Architects. We preserved the rough construction elements and designed homes around a large street that is open to the sky, close to the city and directly on the waterfront.</p>

Tran­si­tions be­tween arch­i­pel­ago and the city

projects

<p>Since 2000 the development of Oslo has followed the Fjord City masterplan for areas fjord waterfront. The Opera House was built according to this plan. In 2012 Vandkunsten Architects won the competition for two plots in the Bispevika area neighboring the Opera neighborhood. It is currently under construction.</p> <p>The new residential area is located on the waterfront in central Oslo. Contrasting the dense and high buildings behind it, we have used characteristics  from natural archipelagos that is  a series of spatial transitions – from the open sea to the calm inland waters – and to the little rock you climb with the feeling of being the very first.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

A ca­reer at Vand­kun­sten Ar­chi­tects

news

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