B&W Student Housing

Affordable housing for students is scarce in Copenhagen. By transforming a historically important but unused shipyard hall into student housing and event venue, multiple issues for the city are resolved.

There is ample potential for sports, music and art venues to succeed in the hall and the arrangement could be beneficial for all inhabiting parties.

URBAN POWER designed the visionary project for the B&W student halls as a response to the public debate about student housing in Copenhagen.

The B&W halls have largely stood empty and decaying for decades, but became the venue of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, proving the building’s potential as an event space.

However the enormous construction is in need of renovation and insulation to be a viable performance venue year round. Coating the inside of the hall in a layer of small apartments for students, would effectively insulate the building, adding double functional value to the historical building.

With sufficient insulation against sound, the activity in the hall only adds vivacity and character to the living experience of the students of Copenhagen.

Read more about visionary residential architecture: Stejlepladsen, Grønttårnet

Location Copenhagen, Denmark
Year 2014
Status Proactive study, exhibited At The Venice Biennial 2016
Program Student housing, event Hall, retail
Site area 15.000 m²
Floor area 52.000 m²
Collaborators MOE consulting engineers
Team Rune Veile, Arne Cermak Nielsen, Sara Buhl Bjelke, Helio Buba, Sam Friedlander, Anne Sophie Gouyen, Irina Nica, Aleksander Borg, Martin Hlozka

B&W Student Housing COPENHAGEN DK