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

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. 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 Midtbyen. 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.

Projects

The projects at Aarhus Docklands includes several notable architectural designs: * Isbjerget (The Iceberg), by JDS Architects and CEBRA won the 2013 MIPIM property development Awards. * Z house, by Bjarke Ingels Group. * Grundfos Kollegiet, a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

financed by the Danish company of

Grundfos Grundfos () is the largest pump manufacturer in the world, based in Denmark, with more than 19,000 employees globally. The annual production of more than 16 million pump units, circulator pumps (UP), submersible pumps (SP), and centrifugal pump ...

. *

Navitas Park Navitas (or Navitas Park) is a building in the city of Aarhus, Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danis ...

, a research centre of energy technology. Part of INCUBA Science Park, with education, engineering, innovation and entrepreneurship. * Lighthouse (or Lighthouse*). A residential project, including the tallest tower in Denmark at 142 metres.

Lighthouse

The Lighthouse (or Lighthouse*), is a residential project in Aarhus Docklands, the new harbour front district of

. 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 A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

, 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 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. 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), 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. The

Hilton Hotels & Resorts Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

company has also abandoned the project, because they found the hotel capacity in Aarhus large enough for the market. The construction price for the tower has been estimated at DKK 1.5 billion and now

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality (), known as Århus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and ...

is considering other investors and a rethinking of the original tower project altogether.

Return of the tower

On 13 March 2018, a modified version of the tower was publicly reinstated into the Lighthouse plan. The 45 stories, tall building was completed in 2023.

Gallery

Lighthouse (promenade nord).jpg, The long coastal promenade at Lighthouse Isbjerget 2 2014-09-23.jpg, Isbjerget Aarhus Ø (ungdomsboligerne).jpg, Four youth accommodation blocks in a building cluster. Navitas Park 01.JPG, Navitas Park Aarhus docklands by night.jpg, Aarhus Docklands by night. Aarhus Lystbådehavn.jpg, The yacht harbour Kayakker (Aarhus Ø).jpg, Watersports Aarhus Ø (Kanalerne).jpg, New canals are an important aspect of the city quarter. Aarhus Ø (Havneholmen).jpg, Construction in 2018

References

Sources

The Aarhus Docklands
The Development Secretariat for the Aarhus Docklands
Aarhus kommune
* De Bynære Havnearealer, Center for Byudvikling og Mobilitet (17 September 2014)
Lighthouse*: Ikonbyggeri på kanten af Aarhus
Aarhus Kommune.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aarhus Docklands Port of Aarhus Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Denmark De Bynære Havnearealer Neighbourhoods in Aarhus Aarhus C