Music Centre District

Aalborg/Denmark

Size/ Stage 1: 4.500 m²/ Stage 2: 4.000 m²/ Stage 3: 3.500 m²/ Stage 4: 20.000 m²
Competition/ 1st Prize, Restricted project competition
Status/ Completed in 2015
Client/ A. Enggaard A/S
Landscape architect/ Rambøll A/S
Engineer/ Grontmij
Photo/ Rasmus Hjortshøj COAST

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The sculptural, slender and sharp building volumes are placed on a slightly elevated green plinth as a natural element in the Music Centre District of Aalborg on the northern tip of Denmark. The individual homes harbour great qualities including views to the fjord and the city. Each apartment has views to at least three corners of the world. Throughout the day, the rooms and balconies of the apartments have plenty of daylight, and though dense the apartments are designed without compromising privacy and views.

The concept behind the design was to let the industry's unique historical qualities transform into a vibrant 'mini-Manhattan'.

The residential complex sits in a privileged location surrounded by the industrial heritage in the Eastern Harbour, the waterfront, the Nordkraft power station and the new music venue of Northern Jutland, The House of Music (Musikhuset).

We had the desire to create a characterful and welcoming setting for human life and expression, rich in spatial variation and diversity - far from the monotonous and conformist residential complexes.

Between the large scale of the whole structure and the human scale of each apartment the base runs as a connecting unit of the buildings and superstructures.

The residential district creates spaces for interaction and the urban sense becomes well defined.

The heights vary dramatically from earthbound to sky-high – this results in tangible variations, which are sensed also through changing daylight and shades playing in and around the building during the day and the seasons.