As part of the firm’s continued experimentation with the increasingly popular building method in its hometown, Henning Larsen and Ramboll have unveiled a new design for what will eventually become Copenhagen’s largest mass timber structure.

The new Marmormolen area development scheme follows up on a previous design for a 7,000-person neighborhood called Fælledby that was announced last year.

A closer look at the new plan reveals a staggered-volume building surrounded by similar greenery and connected by a series of green rooftops that express the communion with nature seen in the previous development.

Each volume delineates the use of that particular part of the structure. The eight-story volume is home to the Danish AP pension fund, while the remaining three-story portions offer retail amenities as well as housing for residents overlooking the waterfront in Nordhavn. 

The new building presents an exciting expansion on the use of the material in urban settings, something the firm has been espousing in the past few years. 

“I get the sense that Henning Larsen actively wants to explore timber construction, rather than sidelining it as a second or third choice material,” Fabia Baumann, a designer in Henning Larsen’s Copenhagen office said in an internal interview. “I feel like the studio is ready to invest in our future, to explore how we can bring timber construction to Denmark and beyond.”

The design team says the project will break ground early next year with completion expected sometime in 2024.