In 2019, Danish capital Copenhagen will have a new Metro City Ring. A new House of Food Culture is to be built on top of one of the new metro stations, located on the prominent and historic avenue of Frederiksberg Allé. The project is designed by Danish architects COBE as one of four partners of the winning team in a competition. Danish NRE Group will build the project. The investors for the project are Union Holding and NRE Denmark, and Arne Elkjær is the engineer.

The project is the result of a developer competition organised by the City of Frederiksberg and Realdania By and Byg Foundation. The House of Food Culture will be built on top of the entrance to the coming metro station. With an estimated daily flow of 10,000 people, it will be one of the capital’s new central meeting places and a focal point for urban life.

A prominent location

The tree-lined, Parisian inspired avenue, Frederiksberg Allé, is one of the most significant historic avenues in the Danish capital. It was established in the 1700s as the king’s road leading to Frederiksberg Palace. Today, the avenue is the entrance to a large number of cultural and recreational activities in Copenhagen including several theatres, museums and the zoo.

House of Food Culture and housing

The House of Food Culture will be located on the two lower floors of the new build including food stalls, workshops and educational facilities. On the ground floor, next to the metro entrance, visitors can meet around culinary experiences in both fixed and mobile food stalls, and on the first floor, there will be room to enjoy the purchased goods as well as facilities for various events.

30 new housing units will be built on top of the House of Food Culture. Shaped like an L, the building fills in the corner at the intersection of Frederiksberg Allé and the adjacent road. A corner, which has appeared as a “hole” in the row of historic buildings on the avenue for a long time.

COBE to design House of Food Culture on top of coming metro station in Copenhagen

Founder and Creative Director of COBE, Dan Stubbergaard, says: “The building is going to complete the vacant plot on the historic avenue of Frederiksberg Allé and adapt to its unique cultural heritage.

Besides becoming a new infrastructural node for public transport, the House of Food Culture will also be a focal point in the district. Located on top of the coming metro station, it will be a gate to Frederiksberg Allé, and the nearby theatres, museums and recreational offers, generating life and activity, and reinforcing its position as an attractive, prominent destination in the capital.”

Communities on several levels

The housing consists of five townhouses containing 30 different housing units. Seven meters high, and with a view through the treetops, families will be able to live in terraced houses distributed on 2-3 floors, young people and singles will live in studios and on the top floor there will be a single penthouse apartment. The building will have its own enclosed courtyard.

Dan Stubbergaard adds: “We have designed different types of housing for both families, students and singles, including many common areas, in order to create the best conditions as possible for a socially relevant building. The goal has been to create a rich living environment promoting community on several levels. It will be a place with the opportunity for a varied composition of residents with many forms of family life where you will meet your neighbour on a daily basis.”

Correlation with the neighbouring properties

The House of Food Culture and its townhouses will be built with bricks. This creates a direct correlation to the avenue’s historic buildings, imitating the neighbouring façade lines, patterns and openings. The corner house even gets a tower like the ones that the distinctive, historic buildings on the avenue have.

The mayor of Frederiksberg Jørgen Glenthøj is happy about the winning project: “It has been important that the new building respects the unique environment on Frederiksberg Allé and at the same time stands out and becomes something distinctive. I am certain, that the project will add value and urban life to the area, and merge with the surroundings.”

Project director at Realdania By and Byg Foundation, Peter Fangel Poulsen says: “It is a very special and beautiful place in Frederiksberg and the competition has shown, that it is possible to develop, price and prioritise the consideration for city life, when municipalities are selling and developing their most important building sites.”

A result of close collaboration

Director of NRE Denmark, Jacob Eiskjær Olesen, says: “With both a distinguished and modern architecture, the House of Food Culture is an example of how many different considerations can bring a project to a higher level. That requires close collaboration from the very first idea to the finished project. COBE, Union Holding and NRE Denmark already have good experience from our mutual project ‘The Silo’ in Copenhagen’s North Harbour, where we are currently converting an old grain silo into housing.”

The House of Food Culture and its 30 housing units is expected to be completed in 2019 in connection with the opening of the new metro station. The competition was conducted over two phases from autumn 2015 to spring 2016 with 9 teams competing.

Team:
Architect: COBE
Landscape architect: COBE
Engineer: Arne Elkjær
Contractors: NRE Denmark