Copenhagen Harbor Bath

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

2002

CLIENT

Copenhagen City Council | Lokale og Anlægsfonden

TYPOLOGY

Sports

SIZE M2/FT2

1,600 / 17,222

STATUS

COMPLETED

Copenhagen’s harbor has transformed from an industrial port and traffic junction to being the cultural and social heart of the city. The Copenhagen Harbor Bath has been instrumental in this evolution. It extends one of the city’s most popular parks over the water by incorporating the practical needs and demands for accessibility, safety, and programmatic flexibility. In 2011, the Harbor Bath was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as one of the Best Sports Facilities in the world.

A new winter bath addition is expected to welcome swimmers in 2025.

Rather than imitating the traditional Danish indoor swimming bath, the Harbor Bath offers an urban harbor landscape with dry-docks, piers, boat ramps, cliffs, playgrounds and pontoons.

As a terraced landscape the Harbor Bath completes the transition from land to water making it possible for the citizens of Copenhagen to go for a swim in the middle of the city.

EXTENSION — The harbor bath is extended towards southwest and is finished as a complete rectangle.

FOLD UP — The rectangle is folded up.

THE ENTRANCE — The entrance is a cut into the platform in the extension of the central walkway of the harbor bath which creates a long central axis as in the traditional winter baths.

A TERRACED SURFACE — The inclined surface is terraced to allow people to sit or lie down in the sun. From the seats you can overview the different pools. The area can also be used as an amphitheater for events.

THE WINTER BATH FACILITIES — The winter bath is placed under the wooden deck surrounded by a terrace on all sides. During the dark seasons the winter bath becomes a lantern reflecting in the icy water visible from afar.

LIFE ON ISLANDS BRYGGE — The harbor bath with the new extension brings even more life and activity to Islands Brygge all year around.

MOSAIC ART FLOOR — The entire floor will be covered by black and white ceramic mosaics with motifs created by HuskMitNavn.

GLASS WALLS — The exterior façade as well as the walls in the sauna area are full height clear glass panels. All vertical walls are either transparent or mirror finish creating the perception of an endless space.

MIRROR WALLS — The walls to the rooms requiring privacy are made of full height mirror panels. The finish of doors, built in cabins double as mirrors.

WOODEN ROOF & CEILING — As an extension of the harbor bath the roof as well as ceiling are covered by pine wood planks, the direction of the planks follows the steps on the roof surface.

Incorporated as a natural extension of the existing harbor bath, the new winter bath will extend the existing wooden deck and lift to allow the underlying saunas and thermal baths to overlook the harbor. The winter bath experience is based on contrast: between cold and hot; outside and inside. These contrasts are what generate the physical experience and health benefits.

In the same way BIG’s proposal seeks to create two widely different experiences – the exterior is fully contextual and has emerged out of the local site conditions – the interior on the other hand has references to another time and place, as well as the contemporary Copenhagen art scene.

During the summer, the inclined roof surface of the winter bath functions as an amphitheater facing the pools as well as the park, increasing the connection between the bath and Islands Brygge. Throughout the winter the active zone is mainly under the lifted deck, where the winter bath facilities are placed facing southwest. During the dark months, the winter bath brings life to the area and can be seen as a lantern from both Islands Brygge and Kalvebod Brygge.

As a local reinterpretation of traditional Roman bath house mosaics the floor surfaces are decorated with mosaics of the artist Remember My Name (HuskMitNavn).

Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Andreas Klok Pedersen Blake Smith Hanna Ida Johansson Laura Wätte Ola El Hariri Ombretta Colangelo Igor Brozyna Jeffrey Mark Mikolajewski Se Hyeon Kim Taylor McNally-Anderson Marc Jay Ingrid Serritslev Henning Stüben Christian Finderup Jakob Møller

AWARDS

International Olympic Committee Award Honourable Mention for Best Public Recreational Facility, 2007

European Prize for Urban Public Space, 2004