Residential · 2025
Havnegade Terraces
Forty-two homes carved into a row of listed harbour warehouses, where every new balcony is hung from the existing brick rather than cut into it. The brief was density without erasure — so the industrial rhythm stays legible from the water, and the changes read as one more layer in a long working life.
The brief
Forty-two homes in warehouses that were never meant to be lived in.
The row of listed warehouses had stood empty for a decade. The client asked for family homes with real outdoor space, daylight deep into the plan and a facade that heritage officers would approve without argument.
The approach
We hung the new balconies from the existing brick piers on slender steel hangers, so nothing touches the ground and nothing is cut from the listed wall. Inside, the deep floors are split by a shared courtyard cut from the middle of each block.
Brick is cleaned and repointed, timber floors are left exposed where they were sound, and every new element is steel, painted the same dark grey as the original crane rails. The new work is legible but never louder than the old.
Project facts
Location
Copenhagen, DK
Year
2025
Scale
5,800 m²
Role
Adaptive reuse & housing
Client
Havnegade Boligselskab
Status
Completed
Partner in charge
Erik Marklund
Photography
Atelier Nord
Plan
A courtyard cut from the centre of every block.
Each warehouse is divided into two thin bars around a shared court. Apartments run through from harbour to courtyard, so every home has light from two sides and a balcony facing the water.
01
Harbour-facing apartments
02
Shared courtyard
03
Hung balconies
Ground floor plan
1 : 500
Weight
The balconies weigh nothing, or look as if they do.
Each balcony hangs from two steel rods anchored into the original brick piers above. The floor plate is a folded steel tray with a timber deck, so from the quay the additions read as a thin line drawn across the facade.
Down to the last detail
Three junctions between new steel and old brick.
Design intent is protected in the details, and details are decided on site. These are the three we spent the most time on.
01
Hanger to pier
A single stainless anchor per pier, set into the mortar joint so the brick is never drilled.
02
Balcony edge
The folded steel tray is twelve millimetres thick at the edge, with the drainage hidden in the fold.
03
Courtyard threshold
Original granite sills are reused as steps down into the courtyard, worn side up.
Gross floor area
Months from brief to opening
Homes, every one with a balcony
Bricks removed from the listed facade
“
We expected a compromise between heritage and homes. We got both, without either giving way.
J. Nørgaard
Development Director · Client, Havnegade Terraces
