Mountain Dwellings

Roof Gardens.

Project details

• Project Name: Mountain Dwellings
• Location of Site: Copenhagen, Denmark
• Design Team: Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels; Project Manager: Finn Norkjaer; Project Architect: Jakob Lange; Project Leader: Jan Borgstrom; Construction Architect: Henrick Poulsen; Contributors: Annette Jensen, Dariusz Bojarski, Dennis Rasmussen, Eva Hviid Nielsen, Joao Vieira Costa, Jorn Jensen, Karsten V. Vestergaard, Karsten Hammer Hansen, Leon Rost, Louise Steffensen, Malte Rosenquist, Mia Frederiksen, Ole Elkjaer-Larsen, Ole Nannberg, Roberto Rosales Salazar, Rong Bin, Sophus Sobye, Soren Lambertsen, Wataru Tanaka
• Project Type: Parking and housing
• Client: Hopfner A/S, Dansk Oil Company A/S, City & Habor
• Contractor/s: HoPFNER A/S
• Site Area: 90 x 83 m
• Built-up Area: 33000 m2
• Cost of Construction: 52.3 million Euro
• Date of completion: August 2008

Wooden Facade (South East).

Words from the architect

There are two different clients. One requested a parking House to serve several of the apartment blocks of the area. The other requested a Housing block.

South Facade.

We created a mountain of 20, 000 m2 parking as the escalating foundation for 10, 000 m2 of terrace houses: a mountainside of single-family homes resting upon the colourful foundation of contemporary car culture. It is thus a project combining the splendours of the suburban backyard with the social intensity of urban density.

South West Facade.

The roof gardens consist of a terrace and a garden with plants changing character according to the changing seasons. The building has a huge watering system which maintains the roof gardens. The only thing that separates the apartment and the garden is a glass facade with sliding doors to provide light and fresh air.

Interior - Parking House I (with skew elevator).

The gigantic parking area contains 480 parking spots and a sloping elevator that moves along the mountain's inner walls. In some places the ceiling height is up to 16 meters which gives the impression of a cathedral-like space. The north and west facades are covered by perforated aluminium plates, which let in air and light to the parking area. The holes in the facade form a huge reproduction of Mount Everest.

Interior - Parking House II.

The project consists of a parking area as the foundation of homes - like a concrete hillside covered by a thin layer of housing, cascading from the 1st to the 11th floor. In this way, the two functions are merged into a symbiotic relationship. The parking area needs to be connected to the street and the homes require sunlight, fresh air and a view, thus all apartments have roof gardens facing the sun, amazing views and street parking on the 10th floor. The Mountain Dwellings appear as a suburban neighborhood of garden homes flowing over a 10-storey building - suburban living with urban density.

Nominated for World Architecture Festival - Category: Housing

Stair in Parking House.

South East Facade.

Interior - Parking House III (with skew elevator).

Interior – Hallway to apartments.

Roof Garden.

Interior - Apartment.

North East Facade.

Credits

• Text: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
• Photographs: Jens Lindhe, Jan Magasanik and Ulrik Jantzen