Kulkransporet

TERROIR together with LATZ & Partner and ISC Engineering were second in this international, 3-stage competition for the redevelopment of the Sydhavn Precinct in Aarhus.  Central to the site was the old Coal Bridge – a concrete rail upon which a mobile crane moved coal back and forth across the site.  Despite the focus on the bridge, the project anticipated a 300,000 square metre redevelopment of the precinct, film studios and start-up centre while maintaining its role as a hub for homeless people in the city.  At the same time, the City had approved – paradoxically given the other proposed uses – the location of the new Danske Bank Headquarters adjacent to the bridge.  The site – wedged between a major cutting and a power plant – had serious challenges in terms of connectivity but also in the location and organisation of viable redevelopment sites.

Our team’s strategy focused on understanding the bridge in the context of the reorganisation of the whole site, considering it in the larger context of the Aarhus coast to the south and north and how this slightly isolated but well-located precinct might contribute to the city as a whole.  With key connectivity matters understood, we then worked with varying plot sizes to ensure diverse forms of occupation, including an attempt to make sense of a bank headquarters (building footprint, occupants, public domain constraints) in this neighbourhood.