Aarhus Docklands

Neighbourhood in Aarhus Municipality, Central Denmark Region, Denmark From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aarhus Docklandsmap

Aarhus Docklands (Danish: Aarhus Ø) is a redeveloped neighbourhood in Aarhus, Denmark.

Quick Facts Country, Regions of Denmark ...
Aarhus Docklands
Aarhus Ø
Neighbourhood
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View of Aarhus Docklands from Riis Skov (July 2017)
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Aarhus Docklands
Aarhus Docklands
Aarhus Docklands in Aarhus
Coordinates: 56.164°N 10.228°E / 56.164; 10.228
CountryDenmark
Regions of DenmarkCentral Denmark Region
MunicipalityAarhus Municipality
DistrictMidtbyen
Postal code
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Construction of Aarhus Docklands began in 2008 and most buildings and construction was finished by 2018. The project converted the former container port, Nordhavn in the Port of Aarhus, to a new residential, educational, commercial and recreational area, consisting of high rise buildings of modern architectural designs, seaside promenades and a network of canals.

Fully developed, the Docklands neighbourhood is intended to sustain 10-12,000 residents and 10,000 jobs in an area equalling the size of Trøjborg, an adjacent neighbourhood. Aarhus Docklands offers a view of the Aarhus Bay and is located a short distance to Midt Byen.[1]

Aarhus Docklands is part of the larger Peri-urban Harbour-areas (De Bynære Havnearealer) comprising nearly all of the old harbour district along the coastline. It is among the largest harbourfront development projects in Europe.[2]

Projects

The projects at Aarhus Docklands includes several notable architectural designs:

Lighthouse

Quick Facts Lighthouse, General information ...
Lighthouse
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Lighthouse (July 2023)
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General information
Statusfinished 2022
TypeResidential, Commercial
LocationAarhus
Coordinates56°09′56.26″N 10°13′52.88″E
Estimated completion2014
Opening2012
CostDKK 2.5 billion
Height
Roof142 m (466 ft)
Technical details
Floor area800,000 m2 (8,600,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)3XN & UNStudio
DeveloperLighthouse*konsortiet
Structural engineerGrontmij Carl Bro
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The Lighthouse (or Lighthouse*), is a residential project in Aarhus Docklands, the new harbour front district of Aarhus. The project was originally divided in 2 phases, but due to financial problems, the first phase was sub-divided in 2 stages. Both these initial stages are completed, with stage 2 finished in 2014.

Despite what its name might suggest, Lighthouse is not actually a functioning lighthouse, since such was not needed at the time of construction.

Construction and change of plans

The original second phase of the Lighthouse project, included a 142 m (466 ft) tower. Located at the edge of the harbour front, overlooking the Aarhus Bay, it would have been the tallest building in Denmark and a landmark for the city of Aarhus. It was planned to comprise more apartments, offices, a hotel and restaurant and underground parking lots. In addition to the original financial problems, it was discovered during the construction of phase 1 in 2008, that the construction ground was not stable enough to support a tower of that size. A countrywide geological survey showed that the building site was in fact one of the most unstable in Denmark.[4] In December 2013, the investment company Havneinvest A/S decided not to use the buy- and construct-option for the tower site. The option prize was DKK 270 mill (originally DKK 417 million[5]), but after four years of thorough investigations for DKK 9 million, the investor concluded that the project could not be realized. The investigations revealed among several issues, that the wind conditions could not allow for balconies at the tower.[6] The Hilton Hotels & Resorts company has also abandoned the project, because they found the hotel capacity in Aarhus large enough for the market.[7]

The construction price for the tower has been estimated at DKK 1.5 billion and now Aarhus Municipality is considering other investors and a rethinking of the original tower project altogether.[5]

Return of the tower

On 13 March 2018, a modified version of the tower was publicly reinstated into the Lighthouse plan. The 45 stories, 142 metres (466 ft) tall building was completed in 2023.[8]

References

Sources

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