Bymilen – the City Dune

Behind the office buildings and hotels, Bymilen – or the City Dune – winds its way several meters above street level. The space is laid out like a Swedish hillside and brings a surprising tranquility to one of Copenhagen’s busiest corners.

Surrounded by the archetypal rectangular frames and uniform grey of its nearest office blocks and hotels, Bymilen – or the City Dune – is an enticing sight for sore urban eyes, with its sweeping curves, contrasting whitewashed concrete, Nordic pines and evergreen ferns, mosses and grasses.

Resting on Copenhagen’s historic old port and freight area, Bymilen is part of the SEB Bank & Pension site, privately owned but kept open to the public. Framed between the two freestanding SEB Bank & Pension buildings, it overlays the site’s underground car park and technical facilities, and is designed to connect the entrances of the SEB buildings to the neighbouring Danish National Archives’ green roof garden.

The motivation behind the project was to provide SEB Bank with a strong, unique Nordic identity, while at the same time creating an urban space that’s valuable to its users. Laid out as a Swedish hillside, it is the first climate-adapted urban space in Copenhagen. Not only does its white concrete reflect the sun, the park collects rainwater to be reused for irrigation and cooling on hot summer days.