Gottlieb Paludan Architects has designed and planned a new district cooling plant and administration office for HOFOR, Greater Copenhagen’s largest utility company. The plant will be housed in Vestre Elektricitetsværk, a disused power station in Tietgensgade in central Copenhagen.
One of the first power stations to be built in Copenhagen has been converted and extended to become a district cooling plant as part of the efforts to supply major Copenhagen organizations with energy-efficient seawater cooling. The plant has a capacity of 18 MW and supplies, among others, Copenhagen City Hall, Industriens Hus (domicile of the Confederation of Danish Industry) and the Danish State Archives with environmentally friendly cooling, produced with the aid of sea water from the capital’s harbour.
The administration office provides space for 12 office staff and meeting facilities as well as workshops, storage rooms, shower and changing rooms for 30 people together with a kitchen and canteen that serve 40 people.
The interior of the building has been reorganized to meet the demands of the project. Some original rooms have been recreated and a number of new ones have been established. Some existing roofs have had to be raised to make space for the cooling plant, creating a new superstructure in very distinctive recessed brickwork. The new building elements may be seen as a nod to the other historical layers of the building complex. The structure remains entirely in red brickwork and the architecture communicates its specific current use.
Client: Copenhagen Greater Utility (HOFOR)
Year: 2011-2013
Area: 4,000 square metres
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
In collaboration with: COWI, Moe & Brødsgaard