Location Copenhagen, Denmark Client/operator Live Nation Entertainment www.livenationentertainment.com Architects HKS 350 North St. Paul Street US-75201 Dallas, Texas www.hksinc.com 3XN Copenhagen A/S Kanonbådsvej 8 DK-1437 Copenhagen K www.3xn.com Engineers Arup www.arup.com ME Engineers www.me-engineers.com Landscape Architects Planit IE www.planit-ie.com Authors HKS, 3XN Photos Adam Mørk Official opening 2017 Construction costs DKK 1.4 billion EUR 190 million
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THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR ROYAL ARENA IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK ‘Putting people first’ is the departure point for the philosophy and design strategy in creating a unique, confident and neighbourly arena. HKS in association with 3XN Architects has designed the 35,000-square-metre, 13,000-seat multi-functional arena in Denmark’s capital. Engineers were Arup and ME Engineers, with landscape architecture by Planit-IE. The team prioritized creating an arena that would foster the positive interaction and values that make a neighbourhood enjoyable. In a major project such as the Copenhagen Arena, the balance of perspectives is important for the process of design. Without a doubt, a building of this size affects the adjacent community, and therefore its design as ’the good neighbour’ needs to encourage positive interaction and those characteristic values that make a neighbourhood enjoyable. Unique podium Central to the design, and surrounding the building, is a unique podium acting as a link to the adjoining neighbourhood. This feature is designed to effectively absorb the movement of spectators through a variety of small plazas, pockets and gathering areas which have been carved from the podium’s perimeter. It simultaneously encourages the community to embrace the variety of public spaces, staircase and
surroundings that promote activity and liveliness when the building is not in use. An emphasis on the human scale has been put forward with the idea of ’putting people first’ in the thinking behind design and function. The architecture continues to interact with the public with a wave-like, vertical façade that seemingly “dances” above the surrounding podium, while the arena allows people on the outside to enjoy glimpses of the activity and excitement within. More importantly, as the exterior façade encircles the building in its wavelike movements, it lifts up slightly above the natural entry points of the arena. This visual signalling of the entrances assists, in the most informal way, the important process of wayfinding and navigation around the building. The light-coloured brick elements of the exterior façade give a sb 1/2018