Located in the visual axis of the Notre Dame Cathedral in a dense context of university buildings from different historical periods, BIG proposes a building geometry that adapts to the specific conditions of all adjoining sides, optimized for daylight, views and accessibility. The three-dimensional envelope retracts from the neighboring facades, opens up towards the square of Institut du Monde Arabe and the park, and folds into a publicly accessible rooftop landscape, resulting in an adapted sculptural building volume.
The building’s massing is born from the site which follows the existing curve of the road and wraps to create a slender m ribbon-like office space that reflects the dynamic quality of its surroundings. The rooftop acts as a fifth façade and winds down to create a string of linear garden terraces that are connected by a stair at the western edge serving as a secondary means of fire egress and a linear park.
The building’s double curved, precast concrete façade bows inwards to create a generous urban canopy that responds to the ‘shock wave’ of the park’s circular running track, activity pods and planting vignettes – rippling outwards like rings in water to invade the building’s footprint. Visitors and employees can admire the mothballed ships sitting in the adjacent docks while embracing the Central Green Park.
A bike path and a pedestrian path runs through the entire park, improving the infrastructure locally in the area while integrating it into the broader, citywide context. This is because the cycle route is also a part of a much longer cycle route that runs from Valby in the south, up through Frederiksberg to Lyngbyvej in the north. Today, the path is part of a kmt green arc connecting the west and north side of Copenhagen.
The building’s tallest corner is lifted up to m in order to maximize the inflow of natural daylight as well as views towards Gärdet and the Frihamnen port for most of its units. The modules cascade down to the building’s lowest profile at just m, gradually extending the wooden development into the park. &Park appears like a gentle hillside, seamlessly blending into the nature around it.