The Mountain

Rather than doing two separate buildings next to each other, we decided to let the parking area become the base for the terraced residences – like a concrete hillside covered by a thin layer of housing, cascading from the 11th floor to the street edge. In this way we merge the two functions into a symbiotic relationship. The parking area needs to be connected to the street, and the homes require sunlight, fresh air and views, thus all apartments have roof gardens facing the sun and amazing views. 

The Mountain Dwellings appear as a suburban neighbourhood of garden-residences overflowing a 10-storey building – suburban living with urban density. The roof gardens consist of a terrace and a garden with plants changing character according to the changing seasons. The building has a huge watering system which maintains the roof gardens. The only thing that separates the apartment and the garden is a glass façade with sliding doors to provide light and fresh air. The residents of the 80 apartments will be the first in the quarter Ørestaden to have the possibility of parking directly outside their homes. The gigantic parking area contains 480 parking spots and a sloping elevator that moves along the mountain’s inner walls. In some places the ceiling height is up to 16 meters which gives the impression of a cathedral-like space. The north and west facades are covered by perforated aluminium plates, which let in air and light to the parking area. The holes in the facade form a huge reproduction of Mount Everest. 

At day the holes in the aluminium plates will appear black on the bright aluminium, and the gigantic picture will resemble that of a rough rasterized photo. At night time the facade will be lit from the inside and appear as a photo negative in different colours as each floor in the parking area has different colours. The Mountain Dwellings is located in Ørestad city and offer the best of two worlds: closeness to the hectic city life in the centre of Copenhagen, and the tranquillity characteristic of suburban life. 

The entire building is naturally heated and lighted, as all apartments are oriented southward with large glazed areas/windows to let in sunlight. They are also cooled by natural ventilation. The parking lot/area is covered by perforated aluminum plates, which let in fresh air and light to the parking area. The building also has a watering system which maintains the roof gardens by redistributing rain through drip irrigation. 

Name of work in English 

The Mountain 

Name of work in original language 

Bjerget 

Placement 

Shortlisted 

Prize year 

2009 

Location 

Copenhagen, Denmark 

Year completed 

2008 (Year began – ) 

Studios 

BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group; JDSA / Julien De Smedt Architects 

Authors 

• Bjarke Ingels (1974 Denmark); Julien De Smedt (1975 Belgium); Jakob Lange (1978 Denmark); Finn Noerkjaer (1967 Denmark); Jan Borgstroem (1968 Denmark) 

Collaborators 

• Collaborator (external): Julien de Smedt
• Engineering: Moe Broedsgaard, Freddy Madsen 

Program 

Collective housing 

Usable floor area 

33.000 M2 m2 

Cost 

33.5 million €/m2 

Map 

LatLng: (55.63513098602152, 12.583006514570911)