Project Details
- Project Name
- Aarhus Harbor Bath
- Architect
- Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
- Client/Owner
- Center for Byens Anvendelse, Aarhus Kommune / Salling Fonden
- Project Types
- Community
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 27,986 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2018
- Shared by
- Miabelle Salzano
- Project Status
- Built
A new harbor bath in Denmark’s second-most populous city isn’t the Bjarke Ingels Group’s first in its home country. In 2003, BIG completed the Copenhagen Harbor Bath for the most populous city, a project the International Olympic Committee recognized with a 2007 Best Public Recreational Facility honorable mention. Opened in early July, the Aarhus Harbor Bath (shown) features three pools of various depths for swimming and diving, as well as an additional 50-meter-long pool. Summer bathers can also view the under-construction AARhus, a mixed-use multifamily project BIG designed with fellow Danish firm Gehl Architects.
This article appeared in ARCHITECT's August 2018 issue.
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Aarhus Harbor Bath is an extension of BIG's current development plan for Aarhus' new waterfront neighborhood named 04. Similar to BIG's first harbor bath in Copenhagen from 2002 which has come to define the Danish capital as one of the most livable cities in the world, Aarhus Harbor Bath and adjacent Beach Bath provide new ways for the public to enjoy the water in all seasons.
Together with urban life expert Jan Gehl, our strategy was to create a framework for maximum amount of life with the minimum amount of built substance. The harbor bath zig-zags gently into the island, extends all the way out into the harbor pool and back again. The swimmers can enjoy the circular diving pool, a children's pool, the 50m long lap pool or one of the two saunas that are tucked underneath the public boardwalk which doubles as a viewing platform who those who prefer to stay dry.
In front of the bath, a series of freestanding restaurants, a children's theater, beach huts for various activities and other life-creating public oriented programs were designed before the private buildings blocks which will rise in the coming years. As a result, the private residential buildings at 04 become subordinate to the needs of the public realm.
Aarhus Harbor Bath gives the residents and visitors of the island a more engaging and adventurous waterfront experience who can use the harbor bath not only in swim shorts but as a walkway that extends the public realm into the water, breathing new life into an area historically reserved for industrial purposes.
