Denmark
Case study:
The Harbour Park, Islands Brygge, Copenhagen
Project data
Project name: The Harbour Park, Islands Brygge
Location: Iceland Docks, Copenhagen
Planning period: 1st draft December 1993, planning commencement 1994
Construction period: 1995–2000
Costs: DKR25 million
€4.1 million without buildings
Area: 2.8 hectares (28.000m²)
Landscape architects: Annelise Bramsnæs and Poul Jensen, Copenhagen
Client: City of Copenhagen, represented by Roads and Parks Department
Awards: The Danish City Planning Award 2003
The project chosen as the case study for this chapter is a continuation of the Danish traditions of unpreten-
tious, functional, geometrical forms and excellent technical execution down to the last detail. On the other
hand, the Harbour Park reflects the new approach to relaxed outdoor life in an urban context which has
become familiar in Barcelona, Berlin, the Netherlands and France.
Overview
For the residents of the Islands Brygge neighbourhood, the creation of the Harbour Park was a break-
through. For many years, local people had been in conflict with the city authorities over redevelopment
plans for the area. Suddenly everyone found themselves in agreement that the right use for the site was a
park. Part of the explanation can be found in the arrival of a new generation of staff in the city’s public parks
office, but the influence of successful harbourside redevelopments around the world was also felt.
The Harbour Park also proved to be a breakthrough in design terms, even though it borrows ideas from
projects elsewhere. In particular, there is a strong Mediterranean influence with the use of soft gravel sur-
faces, dark red walls and the provision of outdoor sitting and cooking facilities. The desire to preserve accu-
mulated cultural value led to the retention of existing artefacts, such as the railway and crane tracks, and
even one Aesculus hippocastanum which had been planted by local residents in an earlier and provisional
phase of the park’s development. This emphasis on reuse harmonises with the philosophy of sustainability
which is now an important theme in Danish landscape architectural practice.
