Humlehaven in Carlsberg City
The development plan for Carlsberg City in Copenhagen mandates that new development embraces the close, distinctively urban, historical condition of old Copenhagen, which offers both challenges and opportunity.
By bringing residents, commuters, students, and visitors closer together, around public spaces, and in active streets, it is expected that the development of the old Carlsberg Brewery will establish an urban life reminiscent of historical cities throughout Scandinavia and Europe. To accomplish this goal, it is important that each building responds to a few key formal relationships.
• history / future
• solid / spatious
• revealed / hidden
• classic / modern
There is a heirarchy in the urban plan. Larger public spaces are linked to smaller public spaces and more private spaces. Each space will establish a unique identity, and the neighborhood will become heterogenous, variable, and community driven.
The design of the relationships between spaces and between buildings seeks to emphasize and celebrate the balance between the brewery and the substantial development that is yet to come. Humlehaven makes this a priority, and breaks those relationships down to a human level, where each resident and visitor to the area is able to experience the city and their own destination both independently and collectively.
The outer world – the relationship to Carlsberg city
Bricks are an important characteric of the historic Carlsberg Brewery, and Humlehaven responds directly to that materiality be incorporating recycled bricks from some of the demolished buildings. The bricks are gathered in large planes which emphasize the solidity of each building, without directly imitating the rhythm and structural restrictions that define many of the existing facades. The brick slabs are oriented to provide plenty of solar access to apartments while also partitioning the units, and the primitive stacking of those slabs establishes a monolithic backdrop for Købkes Plads. Each of the large areas of glass provide thoroughly modern views to the city from the apartments’ interiors.
The inner world – Humlehaven’s Secret Garden
Accessed through each of the 4 green passages leading to the plinth level, is the green inner courtyard of Humlehaven. From this level, each of the residential buildings has their primary entrance. By entering the buildings from the collective courtyard instead of the exterior oriented street entrances, the landscaping pulls residents through the gradient from public to semi-public to private space, providing different opportunities for social interaction. The hard surfaces of the courtyard are all light and reflective surfaces in order to reflect ambient light around the space, and slim trees and green grasses are distributed around the courtyard to filter excess solar exposure and foot traffic. Overall, the transition between the activity of Købkes Plads and the inner courtyard is a direct response to the shift between the bustling public street life and the calmness of a residential environment.
Private space – the stairway and the apartment
Traditional Danish apartment housing is accessed from a stairway with the entrances to two apartments per floor. Compared to a long anonymous hallway, this typology provides a very legible breakdown of the public domain into a semi-private entrance space. In this contemporary example, the core lies in the middle of three apartments, which helps to minimize the amount of circulation area per unit. The stair and elevator access within these cores is robust and concrete, and as residents pass from the hard circulation core to the interior of their apartments, they are immersed in the warm, wooden material palette of the entry. This wooden zone includes the bathroom, kitchen, storage, and utility shafts. Living spaces all occur between that warm, utilitarian core and the elemental brick facade of the building with its integrated windows and balconies. Dividing walls within each apartment are entirely flexible, and can be composed of any light material, solid or translucent. Each living space provides the opportunity to withdraw towards the warm interior, or to experience the building envelope’s interface with the urban environment.
