Zoning Plan for Fisketorvet - CPH Mall approved by Copenhagen City Council

The zoning plan for Fisketorvet – CPH Mall has been approved by Copenhagen’s City Council. This means that work to develop Fisketorvet into an attractive destination, capitalising on its unique location by Copenhagen Harbour and its role as a major infrastructural hub, can continue.

For several years, Schmidt Hammer Lassen has been collaborating with Fisketorvet’s owners, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, to rethink the shopping centre and its surrounding development rights.

Fisketorvet opened in Copenhagen in 2000, completing the development along Kalvebod Brygge and marking the final stage of Copenhagen Harbour’s development along Vasbygade. Since then, the city has expanded, both extending from and developing around Fisketorvet.

Originally situated on the edge of the city, the shopping centre is now located in one of the area’s prime spots, at the heart of a transportation hub with S-trains, buses, cycling routes, and more recently the metro, making it easily accessible. The nearby areas of Engholmen and soon Jernbanebyen are being developed, attracting new residents and businesses. From 2005 to 2023, the population of Sydhavnen alone has doubled from 15,000 to 32,000.

From Introvert Shopping Centre to Extrovert Urban Destination

Shopping centres are inherently an introvert building typology, with their functions oriented inwards, often leaving little life around them. Few, however, benefit from as prime a location as Fisketorvet. As the city has developed around the shopping centre, it became clear that there was great untapped potential in reimagining the building as a place that could actively engage with the city and contribute to a more vibrant and diverse urban environment.

“In our collaboration with the developers, the focus has been on creating cohesion and synergy, both between Fisketorvet’s existing functions, the new ones we are adding, and the city at large. How does this synergy manifest in its physical form, and how do we create lively public spaces where residents want to spend time?”, says Nanna Wohlfeldt, Associate Partner and Project Manager on the project.

Fisketorvet will be integrated into its surroundings and take an active role as a catalyst for commercial, social, and recreational activities. By rethinking the shopping centre experience with a holistic approach, it caters to a broader range of users and maximises the potential of the space it occupies within our shared city. The zoning plan, for example, addresses the need for active frontages along most of the perimeter, creating dynamic spaces around the entire site.

New Functions to Bring Life
The approved zoning plan paves the way for a 42,000 m² expansion of Fisketorvet, including residential units, office space, a hotel, and retail. Along the busy Vasbygade, a long, raised colonnade will be built, offering pedestrians a route from Dybbølsbro down to the new metro square to the south.

Two new volumes will be created, each broken up by rhythmic “cuts”, with a new retail space facing the metro square and residential buildings located on the quieter canal side. Additionally, more entrances to Fisketorvet will be established, allowing access from various directions.

SHL Fisketorvet Zoning Main entrance corner

“As architects, we are always mindful of nurturing buildings and areas that might be somewhat on the edge of the city’s or area’s identity. We believe that retail is indispensable for urban life. Many shopping centres are challenged by their inward-focused nature and are limited by their original architecture. They must be transformed to play an active role in the future. At Fisketorvet, we have worked to activate the ground floor, establish pedestrian colonnades, and make room for other functions that will have a profitable coexistence in the future,” concludes Nanna Wohlfeldt.

Zoning Plan for Fisketorvet - CPH Mall approved by Copenhagen City Council

Related content