Copenhagen-based architecture firm Cobe teamed up with Arup on the recently completed Orientkaj and Nordhavn — two new metro stations that connect Copenhagen’s northern docklands with the city center. Developed as part of one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Northern Europe, the metro stations aim to revitalize the post-industrial area with a passenger-focused design and appearance reflective of the urban areas they serve. The two metro stations are expected to serve 9,000 daily users by 2025.
Recently opened in March 2020, the two metro stations connect Copenhagen Central Station to Nordhavn in just 4 minutes. Each metro station was designed with site-specific characteristics. The overground Orientkaj station takes inspiration from a shipping container as a nod to the Brutalist and large-scale dockland buildings with boxy construction built of glass, concrete and aluminum. Large spans of glazing frame views of the area across Øresund into Sweden. Set above the Orientkaj dock and clad in reflective anodized aluminum cladding, the station was created as an eye-catching local landmark and a prototype for future overground stations in Nordhavn, a new city district designed by Cobe that will eventually encompass over 1,500,000 square meters of sustainable, mixed-use development.
In contrast, the underground Nordhavn station is defined by folded, origami-like ceramic panels and an interior clad in red tiles characteristic of Cityringen’s interchange stations for design consistency. Both the overground Orientkaj station and the underground Nordhavn station emphasize passenger comfort with clear wayfinding elements and an abundance of lighting to provide comfort and safety.
“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,” said Dan Stubbergaard, architect and founder of Cobe. “The two metro stations unlock the potential of this new Copenhagen city district, enabling more efficient and sustainable transport between the individual neighborhoods, and to the rest of Copenhagen, while adding a new chapter to the story of the Copenhagen harbor front.”
New metro stations extend sustainable, site-sensitive transit in Denmark [Inhabitat]