CopenHill, a power plant topped with a rooftop ski slope, has opened in Copenhagen. The innovative attraction also features a hiking trail and climbing wall.
CopenHill, also known as Amager Bakke, is a 41,000-square-metre waste-to-energy plant with an urban recreation centre and an environmental education hub.
Visitors will also find a slalom course, freestyle park, children’s slope, and race track, as well as a café, bar and roof terrace.
The ski slope is approximately 400 metres long, with a fall hight of 75 metres. It includes four slopes – two green (12-15% steep), one blue (15-23% steep), and one red (23-45% steep).
“Cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world”
The attraction’s running and hiking trails are inspired by Norwegian and Swedish mountains, while the lookout point is 85 metres high with views of the city.
CopenHill will have the world’s highest climbing wall at 80 meters, divided into four pitches with climbing routes from ‘easy’ to ‘really difficult’. It will open in spring 2020.
Designed by BIG, SLA, AKT, Lüchinger+Meyer, MOE and Rambøll, CopenHill is part of Copenhagen’s goal to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.
“CopenHill is a blatant architectural expression of something that would otherwise have remained invisible: that it is the cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world,” said Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director and founder of BIG.
CopenHill has a slalom course, children’s slope, and F&B
“As a power plant, CopenHill is so clean that we have been able to turn its building mass into the bedrock of the social life of the city – its façade is climbable, its roof is hikeable and its slopes are skiable.
“A crystal clear example of ‘hedonistic sustainability’ – that a sustainable city is not only better for the environment – it is also more enjoyable for the lives of its citizens.”
Elsewhere, BIG has proposed a 500-foot cylindrical observation tower for San Diego’s waterfront as part of the $2.4bn Seaport San Diego project.
Images: CopenHill
