Nye

A new way of living

Location

Aarhus, Denmark

Developer

Tækker Group

Size

650 homes across 220 hectare

Status

Phase 1-4 / Completed in 2018-2021

Architect

AART
Dorte Mandrup
BIG
JDS
Cebra
Friis & Moltke
Henning Larsen
C. F. Møller
Hune & Elkjær
LOOP Architects

A new kind of city is emerging north of Aarhus. What makes the city unique is that it stems from a collaboration between Tækker Group and nine of Denmark’s leading architectural firms and it is based on the idea of creating variation and richness in detail in relation to the buildings as well as the urban space. Each architectural firm is responsible for developing their own part of the city.

The city is new, but the dream is old

The city is new, but the dream has been there for years. A dream about building a city on a private initiative, paving way for other and alternative approaches to developing a great urban life with a broad, sustainable consciousness - both environmentally, economically, and socially. A specially designed rainwater reservoir, electrical bikes and cars for sharing. and a recycling station are just some of the intiatives developed to inspire the residents to make more sustainable choices. Nye is thus a city that challenges the traditional approach to city development and explores its own impact on creating an active leisure life, local engagement, and sense of community.

Uniting the city with the landscape

Our contribution consists of a ring of 46 diverse residential units that unite the city with the landscape to the north. In a topographic grid, the dwellings are distributed across the construction area, bringing together the qualities from the ordered and more organic city. To the south, the homes stretch in a relatively tight formation into the grid with rectangular building volumes, while the ones to the north dissolve the compact geometry in a staggered formation, opening the city up to the countryside.

Different degrees of community

The residences not only create different degrees of links to the landscape, but also different degrees of privacy and community. For instance, the variation of flats, terraced houses and cluster houses create a wide range of private outdoor spaces ranging from the balconies of the flats to the gardens of the terraced and cluster houses. Community is the main element in our contribution to Nye, where the great common area, the green wedges between the residences and the numerous social areas along the residential streets provide ample room for different forms of community.

Niches in the front yards and back yards

Privacy has also been a high priority, as demonstrated in the staggered buildings that provide natural lighting from every direction and create niches in the front yards and back yards, where the residents can enjoy the sunshine, view and fresh air. In the back yards, the wild grass fields of the landscape stretch all the way up to the houses, creating a common pulse between the landscape and residences.