The classic Danish Building Society houses, as we know them from Copenhagen’s so-called Potato Rows (Kartoffelrækkerne) and Hops City (Humleby), contain obvious qualities, including their built-in flexibility, welcoming setting and human scale: low-rise, high-density with good conditions for community building. The Harbour Cove (Havnevigen) development by Islands Brygge in Copenhagen offered an opportunity to realize Vandkunsten’s idea for an updated 2015 version of the Building Society houses.

In addition to their liveability qualities, the Harbour Cove City Houses (Byhusene) also meet the specific challenge presented by the local planning requirement of unusually high building coverage. The result is a development that is even denser than, for example, the Potato Rows.