Nørreport, the busiest station in Denmark, has undergone a highly successful conversion. The old, dark nooks and crannies have disappeared, making way for open, inviting buildings in a streamlined public space.

“The assignment turned out to be about making a new urban space, rather than about designing a new station building. The hardest part in redesigning New Nørreport Station was to create this urban space, where people can be at ease and feel at one with their environment, while at the same time getting the whole infrastructure to work” - Jan Loerakker, architect at Gottlieb Paludan Architects.

As a basis for designing the new Nørreport, an analysis was conducted of the movements of pedestrians across the square. With the use of this movement analysis, the architects could see where the busiest stretches were, and which areas were devoid of significant traffic. That meant that the architects could position walking areas where pedestrians already walked, while positioning buildings and bicycle parking facilities in areas, where they would not obstruct the multitudes of people, who pass through Nørreport on a daily basis.