Tuborg Waves

When Carlsberg Brewery moved production from Hellerup, just north of Copenhagen, it gave the city an opportunity to develop a new part of town containing harbours and canals, yacht clubs, housing and offices. adjutant to the sea of Oresund.

The Tuborg Waves office complex will be a part of this new town. Situated alongside one of the main boulevards in the area, the office complex, are shaped as three seven storey office blocks, creating a rhythm in movement towards the sea.

The new neighbourhood has a maritime character with a canal and garden elements and a view over the Sound. VLA has designed and developed a project for roads, urban squares, gardens as well as the first stage of the canal with attached land installation and yacht harbour. Tuborg Waves can be reached by both private and public transport and even by boat due to the proximity to the harbour.

The space between the office blocks are laid out as public spaces, each shaped by the organic form of the ground floor plans of the buildings. The pavement will be made of dark masonry applied with solar lamps and plants integrated in a free pattern. This layout should be perceived as a big urban carpet.

To be able direct the movement between the buildings, the ground floor is drawn back from the upper facade line, allowing for a more varying flow between the street and the public spaces. By offsetting the columns five meters from the façade a dramatic overhang is created to underline this.

Drawing the penthouse floor across the roof and making the base jut out beneath the building creates a powerful architectural expressiveness while enabling roof patios to be established on different levels bringing the outdoor space of the building to life.

The building inner and outer identity is obtained through a consistent facade work and choice of materials. The shaping of the spandrel strips forms a rhythmic wave creating a special identity and spatial experience indoors and outdoors, while the ribbon of windows ensures an unimpeded view and good daylight for every workstation.

The strips are made of ornament glass with a back paint, reflecting the daylight in much the same way as water. Combined with the shape of the waved windows, this refers to the overall maritime image of the area.

The organic shape of the ground floor was also introduced because the client wanted the possibility to have leasehold premises of varying dimensions. Because of the flexible design of the constructions of the ground floor base and the penthouse floor, each tower block can be a separate structure or the blocks can be interconnected to form one domicile.

The central core of the building holds all support functions of the office, leaving great flexibility in the layout of the workspaces. All of which can be placed in close proximity to the façade and the daylight. The building are supported by only four columns which also ads to this flexibility.

Establishment of continuous space between the building floors, are obtained by cutting the floor decks. This creates a dynamic spatial quality and good visual contact between each office floor and the buildings common functions. The building structure allows for these to be placed with great freedom, according to the need of the tenants.

Since all workstations is located by the window, the need for artificial lightning in the building are reduced dramaticly. Furthermore the installations are divided into zones that ensure that unnecessary energy consumption for ventilation and lightning is avoided.

All flooring are made of locally produced pine wood. And no toxic or listed materials are used.
The building envelope is extremely well sealed and highly insulated resulting in a minimal heat loss.

Easy accessible and covered bike parking are located both on terrain and in the basement which encouraged tenants to use bikes as daily transport. This is combined with easy access to public transport.