Archinect - News

Cobe, Dorte Mandrup, JAJA, and Tegnestuen Vandkunsten to lead new mixed-use housing development at Copenhagen's South Harbor

2024-04-12T13:41:00-04:00

Cobe is joining fellow Danish architecture firms Dorte Mandrup, Tegnestuen Vandkunsten, and JAJA, alongside Sweco engineers, to deliver a new mixed-use residential district in Copenhagen’s South Harbor. The one-million-square-foot design is set to include 1,000 new units of housing (25% of which are considered affordable) designed to help key the Danish building sector's vital green transition.

Each of the buildings will be constructed in line with the Reduction Roadmap initiative, an analog of the Paris Agreement, as well as the Planetary Boundary for Climate Change and a German DGNB platinum certification. Wood will be used as a primary building material throughout the structures, which are connected via canals, bridges, and new green areas.

Rendering courtesy Cobe

Cobe is also under tender to deliver the newly redesigned Danish parliament buildings and public entrance in Copenhagen and has nearby completed another mixed-use housing tract called Paper Island at its Inner Harbor, w...

Cobe opens The Opera Park island in Copenhagen's inner harbor

2023-11-21T17:52:00-05:00

Cobe has completed work on a new outdoor concert space for Copenhagen they say will lend a rich cultural and green balance to the outcrop of new development in the city’s inner harbor area that has been reproduced in abundance over the past two decades.

The artificial island space is dubbed The Opera Park and was constructed on a 231,000-square-foot plot adjacent to the Royal Danish Opera House. It serves as its visual counterpoint and is accessed via a landscaped bridge connector covered by a glass walkway.

The Opera Park. Image: Francisco Tirado

Cobe’s Founder, Dan Stubbergaard, says: “The Opera Park is a place where nature comes first amidst Copenhagen’s bustling urban development. With its six gardens, winding paths, and carefully crafted viewpoints, the project seizes elements of Copenhagen’s historical, romantic gardens to tackle today’s challenges such as decline in biodiversity and water management. As you stroll through the park, you get the feeling of having left the city ...

Arup and COBE design two new metro stations in Copenhagen

2020-06-19T19:06:00-04:00

As a part of the Nordhavn metro line extension connecting Copenhagen's docklands to its city center, Arup and COBE have teamed up to design two new metro stations, Orientkaj and Nordhavn. A defining feature of this project is that one of the stations, Orentkaj station, is above-ground, and the other, Nordhavn station, is underground.

Orientkaj Station.

The above-ground station holds a brutalist inspiration, drawing from the historical aesthetics of the industrial docklands. The underground station takes its inspiration from the recently opened Cityringen metro line, in which Arup led the architectural design, and uses a distinctive red cladding present and other transfer stations.

Nordhavn Station.

"Nordhavn is a city of sustainable mobility, where it is easier to walk, bike or use public transport, than it is to drive your own car. The two metro stations unlock the potential of this new Copenhagen city district enabling more efficient and sustainable transport between the individual ...

Cobe to create new automotive design center in Sweden

2020-05-21T18:38:00-04:00

Copenhagen-based architecture firm Cobe will create the new 14,000-square-meter design center for global automaker Geely in Gothenburg, Sweden. Set for completion in 2022, the new center will house Geely Design, the design and development arm for the Chinese automotive company. The building will function as a site for the development of the new electric car brand Lynk & Co.

The design center will be named Un3 by Geely and be a multi-purpose structure rising four-stories high. The ground-level contains a showroom that can be accessed through a large public square. The middle levels contain a small eating area, meeting rooms, and offices. And finally, the top floor contains the "Chamber of Secrets," a completely sealed off space where designers are free to work on the latest innovations and ideas without fear of the prying eyes of the public.

The top level contains a sunken yard that also acts as the glass ceiling for the atrium of the lower levels. The yard creates a space for design...

First glimpse of COBE's LERVIG Visitor Center and Brewery in Norway

2017-12-20T14:07:00-05:00

COBE teamed up with Norwegian brewer LERVIG to design a new 11,000 m2 visitor center and brewery in the company's hometown of Stavanger. Located on a former industrial pier in the heart of the city, the forthcoming project is a milestone for LERVIG as they continue to expand their business.

Although breweries tend to be perceived as closed-off facilities, Lervig's new visitor center and brewery wants to embrace the public. The new building will have the brewery at the center, which will be surrounded by the visitor center, a 360-degree public promenade, harbor baths, a public roof garden, and the first street-food market on Norway's west coast.

Image credit: COBE.

“Designed as a series of spectacular wooden arches, a large roof connects all functions of the visitor center and brewery. Drawing on the materiality of the traditional brewery halls and embracing the regions proud tradition of constructing with wood, the complex adds an iconic focal point to Stavanger’s harbour front,” CO...

A former silo in Copenhagen transformed into a stunning residential complex

2017-06-28T12:49:00-04:00

Located in Copenhagen’s redeveloped North Harbor (Nordhavn), “The Silo” is, as its name suggests, a former grain silo. Fifty years after its original construction, the structure has been revamped by COBE. Now, the 17-storey silo is a residential apartment building, replete with 38 unique units, which range in size from 106 square meters to 401. The upper and lower levels both have spaces for ‘public’ functions, such as dining and events.

Credit: Rasmus Hjortshõj

A "hyper-democratic" housing complex in Copenhagen combines community input with contextual design

2017-01-13T13:12:00-05:00

Krøyers Plads, a five-story housing project in the center of Copenhagen, has just finished construction. The site, previously a “gap” in a continuous row of warehouses, is adjacent to the Copenhagen harbor. Designed by the Danish architects Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and COBE, the award-winning project is based on a “hyper-democratic” approach, in which “ folded roofs and architectural heaviness create a dialogue between old and new, and a modern, empathetic interpretation of the architectural uniqueness of the old Copenhagen warehouses.” According to the designers, “hyper-democratic” means that the building was designed with intensive community input and site-specific gestures.

”The neighbours were for instance invited to help define the height of the buildings and to help select the materials – both crucial for the way the new Krøyers Plads relates to its surroundings. Instead of inventing a new building typology, Krøyers Plads became a reinvention of the one already found adjace...

COBE + MVRDV's rockin’ new Ragnarock Museum opens to the public

2016-05-03T13:27:00-04:00

Nestled within an industrial patch of warehouses in the Danish city of Roskilde stands the golden-studded, newly inaugurated Ragnarock, a museum where rock, pop, and youth culture are housed under one roof. COBE and MVRDV joined forces to design the new museum, which is part of the larger ROCKmagneten masterplan that the architects won in 2011.

Head over to Bustler for more details.

Previously:

ROCKmagneten: MVRDV and COBE Win Danish Rock Museum Competition in Roskilde

COBE to design Adidas’ Meet & Eat in Germany

2014-12-16T14:12:00-05:00

Sports brand giant Adidas recently selected the COBE-led consortium to design the Adidas "Meet & Eat", a new public conference center at the Adidas Group's World of Sports headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany...The 11,000 m2 building has an open, clean design that complements and embraces its natural surrounding landscape. Aside the hints of Adidas' insignia through the interior, the "striped" pattern of the roof also seems to subtly nod to the brand's triple-stripe mark.

COBE and Transform's Maritime Museum and Exploratorium celebrates grand opening in Porsgrunn

2013-12-13T20:23:00-05:00

After winning first prize in a 2009 competition, Danish firms COBE and Transform collaborated once again to design the new Maritime Museum and Exploratorium, which opened its doors to the public today in the Porsgrunn Harbor in Norway.

Incorporating Porsgrunn's industrial surroundings in its design, the new museum was built to become a contemporary landmark and bring more attention to the river, long considered as the town's "backside."

The new museum has already gained some recognition even before today's grand opening. Just last month, it received the Porsgrunn Municipality’s building practice prize 2013 (“Byggeskikkpris”).

Here's more info on the museum's design:

"The new museum will tell the story of the town’s dock yard industry and its maritime history, which has employed thousands of people from the whole region. In addition, the attractive location of the museum right on the riverside opens up an important process for the city concerning the future extensive urban ren...

Henning Larsen Architects Releases New European Spallation Source (ESS) Video

2013-04-17T20:15:00-04:00

Earlier this year in February, we reported that the architectual team Henning Larsen Architects + COBE + SLA had won the design competition for the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden—soon to become the world’s largest and most advanced facility for neutron-based research. The architects have now released a video which provides insight on the ESS project, building, and surroundings.

The competition team also includes the engineering partners Buro Happold, NNE Pharmaplan, and Transsolar.

Previously: Henning Larsen Architects, COBE and SLA to Design European Spallation Source (ESS)

Henning Larsen Architects, COBE and SLA to Design European Spallation Source (ESS)

2013-02-28T14:17:00-05:00

In the international design competition for the European Spallation Source (ESS), in Lund, Sweden the architectual team consisting of Henning Larsen Architects, COBE, and SLA has emerged victoriously. The team also includes the engineering partners Buro Happold, NNE Pharmaplan, and Transsolar. [...] ESS will become the world's largest and most advanced facility for neutron-based research.

The winning proposal beat out tough competition from international design heavy hitters like Foster + Partners, BIG, HOK, or Mecanoo.

Update: Henning Larsen Architects Releases New European Spallation Source (ESS) Video

COBE and NORD Architects Win Copenhagen’s Prinsessegade Kindergarden

2012-11-07T19:05:00-05:00

Danish architecture firms COBE and NORD have won the competition for the largest daycare center in all of Denmark. The complex "Prinsessegade Kindergarden and Youth Club" in the heart of Copenhagen wil be second home to 618 children and young people. Landscape architects PK3 and engineering firm Grontmij collaborated on the concept.

COBE Wins 2012 Nykredit Architecture Prize

2012-05-15T14:45:00-04:00

Copenhagen-based firm COBE, represented by architect Dan Stubbergaard, is the 2012 winner of Scandinavia's prestigious architecture prize, Nykredit's Architecture Prize of DKK 500,000 (USD 86,000).

COBE and TRANSFORM start construction of new Maritime Museum and Science Center in Norway

2011-11-11T17:08:00-05:00

Construction of the new Maritime Museum and Science Center started this week in Porsgrunn, Norway. The building, designed by Danish architecture offices COBE and TRANSFORM, conveys Norway’s transformation from a seafaring nation to a modern society based on knowledge industry. The project is expected to be completed already in fall of 2012.

ROCKmagneten: MVRDV and COBE Win Danish Rock Museum Competition in Roskilde

2011-09-30T13:43:00-04:00

The MVRDV and COBE scheme for the transformation of a former concrete factory into a multifunctional creative hub was chosen winner of an international design competition. The master plan proposes an informal transformation of the 45,000m2 site into a dense neighborhood, incl. 8,000m2 existing factory halls, organized around a plaza for events.