CopenHill/Amager Bakke is a new breed of waste-to-energy plant that comes with a ski slope, hiking trail and climbing wall. Photos: WAF 2021
Earning the coveted title of World Building of the Year 2021 at the 14th annual World Architecture Festival (WAF) is a waste-to-energy plant that comes with a ski slope, hiking trail and climbing wall.
Announced yesterday (Dec 3), Copenhill, also known as Amager Bakke, is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is designed by B.I.G Architects and was selected from the award’s Production, Energy & Recycling category.
Programme director Paul Finch praised the way the building “addresses the role of architecture in the new world of recycling and zero carbon. It treats infrastructure projects in a way which makes people say ‘Yes, in my back yard’ rather than ‘no’.”
“It encourages designers to think beyond the brief, to argue for ideas, and to ride the tides of politics and economics in the pursuit of the socially beneficial. And it reminds us that buildings can be fun!” he said in a press statement.
CopenHill/Amager Bakke is a new breed of waste-to-energy plant. Formerly a piece of infrastructure located in an industrial zone, CopenHill has become a new destination that combines community and leisure with sustainable ambitions, in line with Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.
The 41,000sq m plant also includes an urban recreation centre and environmental education hub. Skiers ascending the park are able to glimpse inside the 24-hour operations of a waste incinerator.
The mixed-use building also includes a rooftop bar, cross-fit area, climbing wall and viewing plateau. There is also a 490m tree-lined hiking and running trail within a lush, mountainous terrain designed by Danish Landscape Architects SLA.
The building’s sloping rooftop accommodates a 9,000sq m ski terrain. Located on the longest vertical façade is an 85m climbing wall, the tallest artificial climbing wall in the world. Inside, the new waste incinerating facilities integrate the latest technologies in waste treatment and energy production.
CopenHill’s 10,000sq m green roof addresses the challenging micro-climate of an 85m high park, rewilding a biodiverse landscape while absorbing heat, removing air particulates and minimising stormwater runoff.
Beneath the slopes, whirring furnaces, steam and turbines convert 440,000 tonnes of waste annually into enough clean energy to deliver electricity and district heating to 150,000 homes.
Meanwhile, the Future Project of the Year 2021, which celebrates the best of the world’s architecture yet to be completed, was awarded to Silo City, designed by Studio V Architecture.
Located in New York, Silo City won the Future Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival 2021.
Located in New York, Silo City is an impressive adaptive reuse of the largest collection of grain elevators in the world into a mixed-use arts and cultural complex.
The design adapts the revolutionary structures into laboratories for experimentation, artistic expression, and community engagement, supporting grass roots and internationally recognised cultural institutions.
The site consists of two building types that differ in materials, form and fenestration. The design preserves the unique forms of the silos and lack of fenestration by carving out unique interior chambers that manipulate space and light.
The judges were impressed by the way “this project started with the ruins of the world’s greatest collection of grain elevators, and through wonderfully seductive imagery envisages a future for them, the City of Buffalo - and of post-industrial cities”.
Al Fay Park in Abu Dhabi, UAE won Landscape of the Year 2021 at this year's WAF. The new 27,500sq m public park in downtown Abu Dhabi is the Middle East’s first urban biodiversity park.
The honour of winning Landscape of the Year 2021 went to SLA Architects for their project Al Fay Park in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
A new 27,500sq m public park in downtown Abu Dhabi, it signals a new kind of Middle Eastern city development.
Driven by inclusive nature rather than iconic buildings, Al Fay Park is the Middle East’s first urban biodiversity park.
The park is specifically designed to provide biological, environmental and social benefits to both the city and its residents. By planting more than 2,000 native trees and bushes, biodiversity is strengthened for both plants and wildlife, which in turn maximises natural cooling throughout the park.
The judges commented that, “Al Fay Park is a thoughtful and intelligent response which takes into consideration pressing contemporary social and environmental issues. It is a delightful and biodiverse oasis in a dense desert city”.
Horizon Manila, a 419ha masterplan designed to serve as a new hub for growth and development for the Philippines’ capital, won the WAF 2021's WAFX Award, which recognises project proposals tackling today’s global issues.
The WAFX Award 2021, which recognises project proposals tackling today’s global issues, went to Horizon Manila by William Ti, Jr, a 419ha masterplan designed to serve as a new hub for growth and development for the Philippines’ capital.
Earlier in the week, the festival also announced the six 2021 Special Prize winners, which were selected from across the WAF Awards shortlist to highlight projects that exhibit an impressive use of Engineering, Colour, Natural Light, Certified Timber and building Visualisation, plus the best Small Project of the Year Prize.
This year, the WAF was held virtually from Dec 1-3 and featured digital presentations from architects around the world. It will reconvene in 2022 in Lisbon for its 15th edition.
Visit worldarchitecturefestival.com for more details and category winners.
