Tales of the City

Knud Romer and Thomas Kock, creative director, WERK.

Listen to Knud Romer

Carl Nielsens Allé – a green oasis that also protects the city against cloudbursts

It used to be a busy parking lot. Soon this urban space will have been transformed into a lush green park for everyone to enjoy. During heavy rainfall, the green oasis becomes a beautiful water reservoir detaining the rainwater. This urban green space is multifunctional: it serves as a barrier against traffic, a piece of furniture providing shelter and a place to rest, and a means of retaining and channeling rainwater.

The kindergarten – the childcare center as a playful landscape

As the name suggests, the kinderGARTEN childcare center has been designed as a green and playful landscape with green, foliage-clad façades. Here is a seven-step terraced playground , with a swimming pool at the bottom and an organic eatery with a view across the city at the top. The heart of the center is laid out with tree trunks like a forest for the children to explore and play in.

Sports Tower – stacked up sports grounds in a dense city

The Sports Tower offers a unique solution to the increasing problem of making space for sports facilities in the city. Rather than just one sports ground taking up all the space, why not stack several on top of each other? This makes space for more and different sports facilities and new communities in one single location in the densely built city. The Sports Tower has been designed in wood as an open and unheated construction with only meshwork between the load-bearing wooden framework. 

Creative Blocks – build and live together

Creative Blocks in Hamburg was developed by 27 creative families, who shared a wish to live and work under the same roof and be part of a community. The result is a property with very different and entirely unique homes and offices, where the families also have access to common rooms, such as a library, a music room, a greenery, workshops, a whisky bar, and guest rooms for visitors.

Stubkaj – an active way of living on the harbor front

Stubkaj is a new residential development in Nordhavn, targeting active residents who want to be part of a larger community. The ground floor has a café and restaurant. The outdoor areas continue under the building with changing facilities for kayaking or swimming. The building also houses a fitness room, a sauna and communal areas with a kitchen.

Maritime Center in Esbjerg – school and meeting point for maritime communities

The Maritime Center brings together clubs and associations at Port Esbjerg. The center has room for everyone, from rowers to school pupils visiting the harbor to catch crabs, to passersby curious about all things maritime or looking for somewhere to admire the wonderful view of the North Sea. An atrium in the circular building is the perfect space for community and shelter from the sea.

Hauser Plads – a playground for the city’s children and an office

Hauser Plads, once home to a concrete parking lot, is now home to both a green playground and an office. Instead of taking up space in the city, an existing bunker has been converted into offices. In other words, Hauser Plads now boasts an attractive underground office space and a lush playground above, where children can come and play.

Herfølge Bjergby – a new village community

Herfølge Bjergby is for everyone who appreciates being in a community with others and living in scenic surroundings. The vision for Herfølge Bjergby is a neighborhood with mixed housing for people from all walks of life; young and old, singles and families, the well off and the not so well off. The homes span form tiny houses to do-it-yourself dream houses made from sustainable materials such as clay, straw and seaweed. The new village will be a place where everyone contributes to the common good.

Grønttorvet – where you can live in the country in the city

In the urban area of Valby, a former vegetable market has been transformed into a new urban green space. The center of the area holds a space for nurturing and growing the neighborhood. Here, residents can harvest apples and make apple juice. And by each block around the green park, there is a greenhouse to grow and nurture communities and teach children about growing their own vegetables.

Garden in front of the National Gallery of Denmark

The museum garden in front the National Gallery of Denmark has been remodeled into an informal landscape welcoming all. This urban landscape serves as a green oasis and a meeting place. This is where art and the city come together! The circular pond is a natural place to meet, and it serves as a flexible space for art installations, concerts, play and conversation.

Horbelev Kulturgård – a passionate revolt against the centralization

When Horbelev school was closed down, the local community worked together to develop a house to keep the village from dying. As a result, the old village school has now been extended, with a new circular wooden building connecting the four school buildings and transforming the old school into a community center. The new building satisfies any need, from bingo nights, to sports and creative activities; bringing villagers of all generations together and keeping the village alive.

Den Grønne Løber – affordable housing in Altona, Hamburg

Resskamp is an urban affordable housing project providing good housing in Altona, Hamburg. Existing properties are undergoing energy optimization and the area is being developed with additional, attractive buildings of various sizes. There are homes for families, students and the elderly. The area will also have a new park and will be updated with a new system of paths and urban spaces for people to meet.

Mødestedet (The meeting place) – a homely office building made of wood

Mødestedet is an open office building made of wood, and it is nothing like the dreaded cubicles. Mødestedet has space, lots of light, and plenty of inviting communal facilities. The building has room for hundreds of employees, but it boasts a unique homely atmosphere because of the wood and because the outdoor and indoor spaces blend together to provide an inspiring working environment.

Rødovre Town Hall – a warm and inviting building

Rødovre Town Hall is a new municipal administrative building, where citizens can seek help and support in inviting surroundings. The building will provide a workplace for 500 employees, who today sit at different locations. There will also be space for citizens to meet for cultural events. The vision is to create a welcoming building in which citizens feel at home.