Jægersborg Water Tower: Youth Centre and Residences

Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter, FULL, Middle Density, Project, Territory and mobility, Urban Paradigms

Community, Concrete, Denmark, Façade, Future Urban Legacy Lab, Gentofte, Heritage, Housing, Industrial context, Project, Tower, Urban Legacy, Urban Paradigms, Water tower

In 2004 Dorte Mandrup Architects won the competition to convert the Jægersborg Water Tower into a mix-use building with a youth centre and residences. In the upper floors of the tower, residential units are layed out along the perimeter of the structure leaving the centre as common living and storage space. Each unit is formally expressed by a protruding crystal-like oriel bringing light deep into the apartment and offering unobstructed views to the surrounding landscape. Together, the oriels and common balconies add new sculptural layers that underscore the distinctive character of the tower. On the lower floors, the youth centre is divided into large multi-purpose rooms for free movement and adaptability. Large patterned windows surround the youth centre with overhead doors on the ground floor pushing the centre’s adaptability externally.