↓ Århusgadekvarteret

Program // Strategy, placemaking, visual communication, interior architecture, tactics and activation
Location // Copenhagen, Denmark
Year // 2016
Client // Nordhavn P/S
Area // 7.000 residents and 7.000 jobs
Status // Ongoing
Contact // Peter Bur Andersen
Project Team // Tuva Andersen , Lærke Hentze , Espen Lunde Nielsen , Kasper Spange and many others
Contractor // Various partners

The transformation of Nordhavn from old industrial habour to vibrant urban district is in full motion, and BRIQ Group plays a key role in the development of commerce, culture and city life in Århusgadekvarteret in Nordhavn.

Creating the sustainable city of the future – eco-friendly, vibrant, and dynamic – has been the overall vision for Nordhavn from the beginning. Renewable energy, recycling, social and cultural diversity, entrepreneurship and sustainable transport are key words. Combine these with ambitions of providing a wide variety of public institutions, shopping facilities, activities and experiences and you get an idea of the scope of the project.

To empower the vision, we sat out to develop an in-depth understanding of the area’s cultural and historical heritage. By combining these findings with an outlook on international urban trends, we developed a retail manifest for Århusgadekvarteret. Our retail manifest is a concrete tool designed to strengthen the vision and profile of Århusgadekvarteret. We have chosen five qualities that guide our selection of commercial and cultural concepts and create the attractive whole we seek to implement:

  1. Sustainability: Sustainability in a wide sense of the word is the most important element in the transformation of Århusgadekvarteret. It cannot be achieved if the shops and eateries don’t follow up. Being able to shop and eat sustainably is essential in a neighborhood where it should be easy to have a green conscience.
  2. Innovation: We want Århusgadekvarteret to be a dynamic urban district with an atmosphere that welcomes entrepreneurship and celebrates new initiatives. A culture that accepts failures as well as successes is therefore key. In continuation of the ambition to strengthen Copenhagen as a knowledge city, shops that are capable of rethinking and innovating the following elements will be highly valued.
  3. Knowledge development: In order to strengthen the breeding ground for innovation we wish to connect the commercial tenants to knowledge and research institutions that work with retail. Inner Nordhavn might become a kind of retail lab where new ideas are tested and analyzed.
  4. Community and passion: Retailers and restaurateurs in Århusgadekvarteret should contribute to make the quarter a place where people feel welcome and at home. The people that work in the shops and cafes must be aware of their essential role as identity creators of the whole area, creating good relations to the locals and thereby strengthening the attachment to the place.
  5. Unique concepts: Creating a vibrant place, capable of attracting Copenhageners and tourists alike, requires concepts that are not found on every street corner. The value of unique shops and inviting urban settings keeps increasing concurrently with the continued spreading of homogenous chain stores and online shopping.

To support the retail manifest we developed a masterplan highlighting how the five qualities are translated and implemented into the area. The vision and scenarios for the upcoming shops, cafes and other commercial operators are illustrated through the presentation of six sections. Each section has its own concepts, logic, story and identity but all share the five qualities.

Using our retail manifest and masterplan as guiding star, we are now finding the operators and concepts that do not only provide the desirable supply but also the wanted vibrancy and sustainability. Many unique concepts are already in operation in Århusgadekvarteret – and many others are joining the area in the years to come.























The transformation of Nordhavn from old industrial habour to vibrant urban district is in full motion, and BRIQ Group plays a key role in the development of commerce, culture and city life in Århusgadekvarteret in Nordhavn.

Creating the sustainable city of the future – eco-friendly, vibrant, and dynamic – has been the overall vision for Nordhavn from the beginning. Renewable energy, recycling, social and cultural diversity, entrepreneurship and sustainable transport are key words. Combine these with ambitions of providing a wide variety of public institutions, shopping facilities, activities and experiences and you get an idea of the scope of the project.

To empower the vision, we sat out to develop an in-depth understanding of the area’s cultural and historical heritage. By combining these findings with an outlook on international urban trends, we developed a retail manifest for Århusgadekvarteret. Our retail manifest is a concrete tool designed to strengthen the vision and profile of Århusgadekvarteret. We have chosen five qualities that guide our selection of commercial and cultural concepts and create the attractive whole we seek to implement:

  1. Sustainability: Sustainability in a wide sense of the word is the most important element in the transformation of Århusgadekvarteret. It cannot be achieved if the shops and eateries don’t follow up. Being able to shop and eat sustainably is essential in a neighborhood where it should be easy to have a green conscience.
  2. Innovation: We want Århusgadekvarteret to be a dynamic urban district with an atmosphere that welcomes entrepreneurship and celebrates new initiatives. A culture that accepts failures as well as successes is therefore key. In continuation of the ambition to strengthen Copenhagen as a knowledge city, shops that are capable of rethinking and innovating the following elements will be highly valued.
  3. Knowledge development: In order to strengthen the breeding ground for innovation we wish to connect the commercial tenants to knowledge and research institutions that work with retail. Inner Nordhavn might become a kind of retail lab where new ideas are tested and analyzed.
  4. Community and passion: Retailers and restaurateurs in Århusgadekvarteret should contribute to make the quarter a place where people feel welcome and at home. The people that work in the shops and cafes must be aware of their essential role as identity creators of the whole area, creating good relations to the locals and thereby strengthening the attachment to the place.
  5. Unique concepts: Creating a vibrant place, capable of attracting Copenhageners and tourists alike, requires concepts that are not found on every street corner. The value of unique shops and inviting urban settings keeps increasing concurrently with the continued spreading of homogenous chain stores and online shopping.

To support the retail manifest we developed a masterplan highlighting how the five qualities are translated and implemented into the area. The vision and scenarios for the upcoming shops, cafes and other commercial operators are illustrated through the presentation of six sections. Each section has its own concepts, logic, story and identity but all share the five qualities.

Using our retail manifest and masterplan as guiding star, we are now finding the operators and concepts that do not only provide the desirable supply but also the wanted vibrancy and sustainability. Many unique concepts are already in operation in Århusgadekvarteret – and many others are joining the area in the years to come.