Cobe A/S

Opera Park

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

Opera Park

Cobe

ARCHITECTS
Cobe

PHOTOGRAPHS
:Francisco Tirado

AREA
21500 m²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Copenhagen, Denmark

CATEGORY
Park

In 2019, following a design competition, The A.P. Møller Foundation appointed the Danish architecture studio Cobe to design a new park at a former industrial island in Copenhagen’s inner harbor.

Located next to The Royal Danish Opera, the site had been a modest green lawn since the completion of the Opera nearly 20 years ago.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

Utterly transformed today, the island which was otherwise prime for developing new housing, is now home to a diverse and natural landscape. Named The Opera Park, this new public harbor-front park creates a green counterpoint to Copenhagen's otherwise densely built inner harbor.

The park, with the size of three soccer fields, consists of six gardens from various parts of the world: the North American Forest, the Danish Oak Forest, the Nordic Forest, the Oriental Garden, the English Garden, and the Subtropical Garden housed within a greenhouse and atrium at its center.

The diverse gardens hold surprises such as a fountain, a water lily pond, and a reflecting pool where drops of water from a mast gently strike the water’s surface in a soothing rhythm. Meandering paths and organically shaped flowerbeds knit together the park’s elements.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

A YEAR-ROUND OASIS, SETTING THE STAGE FOR ALL KINDS OF LIFE

Designed to be an inviting, all-year-round public attraction, the park features no less than 628 trees, 80,000 herbaceous perennials and bushes, and 40,000 bulb plants, from all around the world.

In total, 223 unique exotic and local species provide a vibrant and ever-changing backdrop for visitors. The vegetation’s appearance, scent, color, and density vary with the seasons.

Spring blooms in a rich color palette, summer brings various shades of green, autumn showcases red and yellow tones, and winter is dominated by evergreen pine trees and frozen ponds.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

The wide variety of plant species and diversity of sizes provide a rich environment for birds and insects to find food and shelter.

A GREENHOUSE AT THE HEART

In addition to the gardens, the park features a central greenhouse with a café, giving access to car parking underneath the park’s surface.

The greenhouse is designed as an organically shaped glass structure with a hovering roof, intended to surprise and delight visitors as they navigate the lush landscape.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

The greenhouse and café will ensure that Opera Park remains a vibrant destination year-round, even during winter when many of Copenhagen’s parks are desolate.

Inside, the greenhouse terraces down to the parking levels, which accommodate up to 300 cars, while its subtropic biotope also descends to vertically weave together the park with the underground levels.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

A COVERED CONNECTION TO THE OPERA

The park also features a covered connection to the adjacent Royal Danish Opera via a covered walkway atop a landscaped bridge, allowing a weather-protected link between the parking facility and the Opera.

Echoing the architecture of the greenhouse, the walkway’s curved glass and floating roof evoke the landscape design in its meandering path. As one of three bridges to the island, the connection is designed as a piece of nature crossing the harbor canal, fully integrating landscape and architecture into one.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

BENEFITTING FROM RAIN AND SUN

Rainwater is considered a valuable resource for the park, channeled from the roof of the Royal Danish Opera into underground water reservoirs used for greenhouse irrigation.

Pathways are designed with a permeable gravel surface, and excess rainwater is collected in rain beds for infiltration and evaporation. The green roofs of the landscaped bridge and greenhouse capture and delay the release of rainwater to the site while also serving as a food source for the park’s fauna.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

Solar panels on the Opera’s roof provide power to the underground parking facility, the park, and the greenhouse.

The park’s chosen materials are robust and fully recyclable, while the abundance of trees and plantings shield against strong winds coming from the harbor and the sea, reducing turbulence and increasing the level of comfort for park users.

Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado

Furthermore, the elevated terrain safeguards the island from flooding during heavy rainfall and significant rises in the harbor water level.


Opera Park
Section


Opera Park
© Francisco Tirado
Opera Park
Plan

Cobe A/S
T +45 3254 4300
Cobe A/S
Orientkaj 4, 2150 København, Denmark