Copenhill is reinventing power & heat generation by turning a power plant into an inclusive space for leisure and interaction
After living in Copenhagen for three years, I have been passionate about fostering sustainability through design ever since. It seems as though Danish designers are among the leaders when it comes to innovative solutions that not only improve sustainability within the city but also offer an enhanced quality of life to its citizens.
Among these designers, Bjarke Ingels is a personal favourite of mine, as he continuously creates projects that require exceptional design thinking capabilities while improving the spaces of local communities.
One of these projects, Copenhill, also known as Amager Bakke, broke ground in 2013 and opened its facilities in 2017. Copenhill is a waste-to-energy plant in the city of Copenhagen that offers a dry skiing slope and hiking trails on its roof, as well as climbing walls on its walls.
Pioneering sustainability. Copenhill has expanded the boundaries of social innovation in several different directions and for different reasons. It is the most efficient waste-to-power plant in the world, and therefore clean enough to become a social space for the community of Copenhagen and beyond. Due to the minimal emissions of the plant, Copenhill could be fully integrated into the city and made topics such as sustainability and trash processing more tangible for the local communities. The plant is located just 200m from its closest neighbour and 2km from the King’s residence across the canal. It delivers electricity and heat to more than 150,000 households and is efficient enough that the city needs to import trash from Sweden.
Improving the quality of life for local communities. Copenhill has not only supported Copenhagen’s ambition to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city in 2025 but also transformed the neighbourhood into one of the most thriving areas of the city. Historically, Amager, the largest island in the Øresund, was known as an industrial island and home of Copenhagen’s landfills. The area was therefore not a particularly attractive neighbourhood due to a lack of social activities as well as a bad connection to the city centre. Several projects such as Copenhill, Amager Strandpark, a diverse food scene, and new biking bridges across the harbour have converted the neighbourhood into one of the most attractive places to live for students, families and the elderly equally.
Creating an inclusive hub for social activities. Copenhill offers diverse activities for every budget, preference and talent. If people don’t want to pay for skiing or climbing activities, they can come to enjoy the view of Copenhagen, meet their peers at a local cafe or go hiking. The newly converted area around the plant offers diverse options to eat, work out or swim in the harbour.
Making sustainability tangible, trash sexy, and urbanizing industrial areas. Previously, energy plants have not been considered for leisure activities and spaces for social interaction. Copenhill is a role model for social innovation since it demonstrates how innovative & bold design can transform people’s perception of energy and trash processing, save resources by adding new purposes, and create a space for interaction that integrates into the environment of Amager.
To conclude, Copenhill has not only been one of my favourite places while living in Copenhagen but is also a transformative example of hedonistic sustainability that promotes the quality of life for local communities.
