The brutal climate of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, means that architecture must not only offer shelter but be in balance with nature. Entreprenørdalen, a district in Nuuk, is currently undergoing a transformation from a former industrial area into an attractive new urban district.
Copenhagen-based multi-disciplinary architects BIOSIS works from a climate-driven design approach which for Nuukullak 10 meant finding solutions that could break down the forceful northern winds and optimize the few daylight hours in winter.
And although the tundra climate brings cold, long, and snowy winters, it’s the wind — not the temperature — that makes for particularly grueling conditions. Then there’s the northern latitude’s seasonal lack of sunlight, which makes year-round outdoor life much harder to embrace. The challenge of accommodating the region’s wind and sun proved to be the genesis for the design of a striking new apartment complex that celebrates local culture and climate.
The project is a singular building containing 45 apartments for young professionals and families, strategically arranged around a central courtyard, allowing for sea and mountain views. This architectural form, with visual links to nature, shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that Biosis’s design philosophy advocates minimizing environmental impact and creating projects that are in harmony with the natural world.
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Thorough studies of wind, flow, and daylight were applied to refine the design and increase the building’s performance, and influence the livability of its residents during the entire design process. By creating an intimate scale of a low-rise building that orients according to the micro-climate, the architects created a building that improves the indoor and outdoor comfort for its residents. To provide the needed protection against the harsh northern winds, the building forms a distinctive horseshoe shape that envelopes the truncated triangle-shaped courtyard. The open end of the courtyard towards the south brings in light and views of the backdrop landscape and sea.
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Each of the building’s 45 suites also has a southeast-facing balcony, maximizing residents’ ability to enjoy the warm daylight hours. At street level, meanwhile, a 270-square-meter café welcomes pedestrians and cyclists. Like all of the building’s at-grade entries, its glazed façade is slightly tucked into the body of the building, making for a sheltered environment. Upstairs, the apartments — layouts range from one to four bedrooms — feature minimalist finishes and expansive south-facing bay windows.
Instead of flatting the sloping site, the structure steps with its natural contours reducing the need for rock blasting, and preserving critical, natural habitats. Biosis also developed the horseshoe-shaped layout to break down the fierce winds and maximize sunlight.
The inner courtyard space serves as the residents’ year-round landscape for play for children, communal space in summer, and wind-sheltered entrance points.
“Our aim is always to minimize the impact and preserve and respect the natural terrain, habitat, and biotopes by, for example, keeping blasting to a minimum. By keeping the rocky features in the design, the building becomes a harmonious extension of its natural environment,” says BIOSIS co-founder Morten Vedelsbøl. “This allowed us to map out a microclimate and refine the building’s form to respond effectively to its natural surroundings.”
The result is a building that offers comfort, connection and beauty to those who call it home.
Building Challenges on Greenland, reported by Tor Kjolberg
All images © Emil Stach