The Living Places Copenhagen homes, Danish housing design, Denmark building, Sustainable architecture images

The Living Places in Copenhagen

5 July 2024

Architect: EFFEKT

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Photos by Adam Mork

The Living Places, Denmark

The Living Places Copenhagen project has been selected by the jury as the 2024 Architizer A+Awards winner in the Sustainable Private House category, as well as the Popular Choice winner in the Architecture+Innovation category, voted by the public. Both awards testify to the importance of the Living Places project on the global architecture scene.

In April 2023, the VELUX Group, EFFEKT architects, Artelia engineers, and Enemærke & Petersen contractors opened the doors to Living Places Copenhagen in the Railway District in Copenhagen – the first prototype of the overall Living Places concept.

The vision behind the project is to lead the way in the building industry and show how rethinking buildings can help solve some of the global climate and health challenges. The concept is based on five key principles that aim to make homes that are healthy, adaptive, simple, shared over time, and scalable. These guiding principles are relevant to both new constructions and established communities.

With the project, the VELUX Group and its partners demonstrate how to build homes with a CO2 footprint of 3.85 kg/CO2/m2/, and to a price that matches the market price for a one-family house or rowhouses at scale. Furthermore, Living Places Copenhagen is designed with a strong focus on creating a healthy indoor climate using daylight and fresh air, and it delivers a first-class indoor climate.

As a part of the project, the partners carried out a complete Life Cycle Assessment, which means that each material, design, and building technique has been carefully considered and mapped in terms of the emissions they project compared to a typical Danish household. Based on that assessment, the project shows that we do not have to wait for future technology to build homes that benefit both people and the planet.

The Architizer A+Awards is one of the largest award programs focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture. The “Sustainable Private House” category awards private housing projects that incorporate sustainable systems and materials, and follow best practices within ethical design, construction, and operation. The “Architecture+Innovation” category is dedicated to projects that unlock new ways to build, including incorporating new, experimental, or unconventional design concepts and materials, or that rethink traditional approaches in pioneering ways. The Architecture+Innovation award is based on public voting.

“We are very honored to receive these two awards for our Living Places Copenhagen project, and to be acknowledged as winners of the Sustainable Private House and Architecture+Innovation categories. Our ambition with the project is, on one hand, to show that it is possible to build homes that are both healthy to live in, affordable to build, and with a low carbon footprint, but it is also important for us to inspire the industry and people to design and think homes differently than what we are used to. With these two awards, we thrive on the affirmation that the concept is not only acknowledged for its innovative approach by thousands of public voters, but also that it appeals to private homeowners,” says Lone Feifer, Director of Sustainable Buildings at the VELUX Group.

In 2023, Living Places Copenhagen won the EY Sustainability Award in the innovation category, the Innovative Design Award of Bo Bedre magazine, as well as the “Sustainable Future Award” and the “Merit Award for Architecture” from the American Institute of Architects. In March 2024, Living Places Copenhagen won the “Active House Radar Master Award” and the MIPIM 2024 award for “Best Residential Project”.

The Living Places in Copenhagen, Denmark – Building Information

Architect: EFFEKT – https://www.effekt.dk/
Project name: Living Places Copenhagen
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Owner: The VELUX Group
Engineer: Artelia
Constructor: Enemærke & Petersen
See the virtual tour of Living Places Copenhagen
Order the Living Places book
About the VELUX Group

VELUX roof windows have been bringing daylight and fresh air into peoples’ homes around the world for more than 80 years, creating better living environments. The Company offers a range of products including roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products, and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. They help create bright, healthy, and energy-efficient places for people who live, work, learn, and play under the roof. Working globally, with sales and manufacturing operations in 37 countries, and approximately 11,700 employees worldwide, the VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company owned by the Villum Foundation and the Kann Rasmussen family. In 2023, the VELUX Group had a total revenue of EUR 2.91 billion, while VKR Holding had a total revenue of EUR 3.97 billion. The same year, the Villum Foundation and the VELUX FOUNDATION donated a total of EUR 184.6 million in charitable grants.

Photography: Adam Mork

The Living Places, Copenhagen, Denmark images / information received 050724 information / images received 050724 v2com newswire

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

New Copenhagen Architecture

Contemporary Copenhagen Architecture

Copenhagen Architecture Designs – chronological list

Copenhagen Architecture Tours : city walks, experienced architect guides by e-architect

The Maersk Tower, Nørre Campus, Blegdamsvej
Design: C.F. Møller Architects

photo : Adam Mørk
The Maersk Tower

Tivoli Hjørnet – winner at American Architecture Awards 2018
Design: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects

photography : Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Tivoli Hjørnet wins at American Architecture Awards 2018