Rem Koolhaas – OMA | BLOX – Copenhagen

The BLOX design hub in Copenhagen by Rem Koolhaas – Office for Metropolitan Architecture

BLOX is a new mixed-used center currently under construction in the Brewery Site (Bryghusgrunden) district in central Copenhagen, overlooking the Danish capital’s harbor.

Aimed to become a new creative hub for architecture, design, and new ideas, and developed by Danish philanthropic association Realdania, the center, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas – Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), will accommodate various functions, including a new home for the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), spaces for meetings and special events, dwellings, offices, restaurants and cafes, playgrounds, recreational outdoor areas, a bicycle park, an underground automatic car stacker, and a pedestrian and cycle bridge which will connect the new venue with the city’s center.

Background and architectural design
The idea to create a design hub in the area firstly emerged in 2006, shortly after the client selected Rem Koolhaas / OMA as the architect to design the new venue; Koolhaas and Realdania developed the project, from a conceptual stage to the final design, between 2007 and 2013. On site works started in May 2013.

Encompassing six stories, one of which partially underground, the building by Koolhaas is composed of an array of boxes of blocks (hence its name) stacked on one another to form an articulated and “porous” cluster.

Aerial rendering and architectural model of BLOX by OMA

Aerial views of the center under construction, summer 2016; photos Dragor Aerial

Photo Peter Rasmussen / Realdania

A 20 meter-wide covered passageway throughout the ground floor of the building, flanked by the main entrances of all functions, creates an direct connection between the city and the old port of Copenhagen, and emphasizes the BLOX’s character of  “urban activator” open to all.

The covered passageway which forms the functional “backbone” of BLOX

Built around a vehicular tunnel, the 180,000 square-foot building is based on a square footprint, measuring 262 x 262 feet, and will be 85 feet high, overall.
The load bearing structure of the BLOX is composed of a structural steel frame supporting horizontal slabs made in reinforced concrete and corrugated metal.

Rendering, schematic views, and cross-sections of the center

The structural steel frame of the building under construction

Plans of the underground level and ground floor

The new home of the DAC
As already mentioned, a large part of the center will be occupied by the Danish Architecture Center, possibly the most important institution in Denmark dedicated to building and urban design.

The centerpiece of the new DAC will be a double-height, naturally-lit, main exhibition hall located right in the middle of the complex and encircled by various spaces, including a second double-height gallery – called exhibition box – a special event space, an auditorium, offices, meeting rooms, a large underground storage, a cafeteria, a restaurant, and a bookshop.

Renderings of the main exhibition hall of the DAC

The new venue “will set a whole new international standard for the involvement of the public in the propagation of architecture and urban development. For example, the building provides completely new options for the creation of major exhibitions and events, as well as unique facilities for educational programmes for schoolchildren and students, directly connected to outdoor play and teaching environments”. (Kent Martinussen, Danish Architecture Center).

BLOX is scheduled for inauguration in Spring 2018.

images courtesy of BLOX, OMA, and DAC