ATP Pakhuset

At the end of the historic Langelinie promenade, an award-winning Danish architectural firm has reinvigorated the old warehouse style and elevated the contemporary office building to new heights.

At the end of the day, as the last cruise ship departs and Nordhavn’s construction sites power down, a glow of life continues where the sky meets the sea at the end of Langelinie Quay. Here, the office space ATP Pakhuset stands like a low-rise lighthouse. Its sloping orange brick roof extends from its façade and continues the tradition of the historical warehouses along Copenhagen’s harbour front. Yet this is a building for people, not storage.

Despite its cacophony of windows appearing haphazard, they’re precision-placed so that ATP Pakhuset’s inhabitants can see both the sky above and the sea before it. Meanwhile, alongside its few panoramic windows, different smaller panes minimise both winter heat loss and summer glare.

Sustainability was key to the building’s design, and to reduce carbon emissions, many parts were cast in concrete onsite rather than prefabricated for transport there. This also made it possible  to squeeze seven storeys – not six – into its 19-metre height.

Its location allows for seawater to reduce its energy consumption by 75 – 80%. In the summer, cold water is funnelled in to cool its concrete; in the winter, heated water is pumped through it. Heat produced by its users and office equipment is also recycled via pumps, which run partially on solar power.