The architectural firm schmidt hammer lassen architects and Architect Kristine Jensens Tegnestue have won the prestigious competition to design Mediaspace and new central urban waterfront in Aarhus. It is a comprehensive and epochal project which will form Aarhus in the future at the spot where the city was first established during the viking age.

The City Development Project ‘Urban Mediaspace Aarhus’

Urban Mediaspace is the title of the project which has won the complex competition on the new central urban waterfront spaces and the future Main Library in Aarhus with the working title Mediaspace.

With a budget of 1.7 billion Danish Kroner it is an extensive city development and architectural project. The project includes the opening of the last part of Aarhus River and the design of the harbour front at the stretch between Europaplads and Nørreport.

Appraisal from the evaluation committee

In its appraisal of the winning project, the evaluation committee stressed, among other things, the following:

‘The new urban waterfront works in its entirety as a junction which in a convincing way captures the motion patterns of the place. Functionally, the Harbour Space supplements the city centre’s historical formation of city squares and with its flexibility and openness encourages new ground-breaking activities for the city’s citizens and business community in an especially vibrant way. With its compelling situation on a well-proportioned bastion, the structure captures the motion patterns of the place and provides the opportunity of an excellent functional interaction with the surroundings. The structure – with the elevated bastion containing the parking facility and arrival centre, the simple glass prism with Mediaspace and the floating roof slice with offices – is easy to comprehend and functions as a distinctive landmark when seen from Åboulevarden.

Behind the winning project are the Aarhus-based architectural firm schmidt hammer lassen architects, Architect Kristine Jensens Tegnestue aps, Bosch & Fjord aps, ALECTIA A/S, and the library consultants Henrik Jochumsen and Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen.

Mayor Proud of Winning Project

‘With the winning project, we will be able to create the most spectacular waterfront in the country and link the city and the river with the bay. We will have a unique Mediaspace and an attractive and popular urban space, which I am sure the citizens and guests of Aarhus will love. It will evoke delight and pride in Aarhus’, says Mayor Nicolai Wammen.

Thorough Selection Process

The evaluation committee, consisting of representatives from all political parties in Aarhus City Council, Realdania, Realea A/S and four specialist judges, has selected the final winning project which is particularly characterised by integrating Mediaspace and the urban waterfront space with the present urban environment.

‘It has been a close negotiation process, as all three project proposals have given exceptionally competent and exciting suggestions for integrating the new central urban waterfront space in the city and for the design of a new Mediaspace and appertaining library service. But in the end I felt that we agreed on the project, which all in all solves the assignment best’, says Director in Realdania Hans Peter Svendler.