Conscious design for better living.
Well-being begins in the place you live.
Some buildings try to disappear into the city. Others do exactly the opposite: they become part of urban life.
In Copenhagen, a massive industrial facility designed to process waste was transformed into something almost impossible to imagine: an artificial mountain in the middle of the city, complete with a ski slope, walking trails, a climbing wall, and recreational spaces.
The project is called CopenHill, although its original Danish name is Amager Bakke. It is located in the industrial area of Amager, in Copenhagen.
And there is an important distinction: this is not a composting facility. It is a waste-to-energy plant, where municipal waste is processed to generate energy.
The basic idea is both simple and provocative: if a city needs infrastructure to process its waste, why should that infrastructure have to be something people want to hide?
Amager Bakke: The Original Name
The original name of the project is Amager Bakke. In Danish, Amager refers to the island of Amager, where the facility is located, while bakke means “hill” or “slope.”
The name is particularly fitting because the building itself creates a new artificial elevation in an otherwise largely flat part of Copenhagen. In other words, Amager Bakke can be understood literally as “the hill of Amager.”
The project later became known internationally as CopenHill. The name combines Copen, an obvious reference to Copenhagen, with Hill, the English word for “hill.”
Both names are still used, but they do not mean exactly the same thing: Amager Bakke is the Danish name of the facility, while CopenHill is the name under which the project is promoted internationally, particularly in connection with its recreational and architectural features.
From Waste to Energy… and From Roof to Mountain
Inside CopenHill, a highly sophisticated industrial process is taking place. Municipal waste arrives at the facility, where it is processed and used to generate energy. The heat produced is also used for Copenhagen’s district heating system, as well as for generating electricity.
But the extraordinary part happens when you look up.
The machinery inside the plant requires different building heights. Instead of hiding that necessity, the architects used it to shape the building itself: a massive structure that gradually rises until it becomes a slope.
And that slope is the roof.
Built on top of it is an artificial ski slope approximately 500 meters long, divided into sections with different levels of difficulty. In this way, an industrial facility that would normally occupy an enclosed and inaccessible space has also become a place for sports and recreation.
Skiing Where There Are No Mountains
Copenhagen is hardly an alpine destination. Denmark has a relatively flat landscape, and the city has no natural mountains where people can go skiing.
CopenHill offers an almost surreal solution: if the city has no mountain, build a mountain on top of the infrastructure the city already needs.
The ski surface does not depend on natural snow. It is an artificial slope that allows people to ski throughout the year. The building also includes a walking trail that runs across the roof, allowing visitors to reach the top without skiing.
And there is something even more spectacular: one side of the building features an 85-meter-high climbing wall, integrated directly into the façade.
The Idea of “Hedonistic Sustainability”
At the heart of the project is a particularly interesting idea: “hedonistic sustainability.”
Instead of treating sustainability as a series of sacrifices—consuming less, giving up certain things, accepting austere buildings—the concept asks whether an environmental solution can also make urban life better and more enjoyable.
CopenHill is almost a physical demonstration of that idea.
The plant needs to exist because the city needs to manage its waste. But rather than using the site exclusively for an industrial function, the building incorporates other uses: sports, landscape, tourism, environmental education, and public space.
A Factory That Doesn’t Hide
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the project isn’t even the ski slope.
It is the relationship between infrastructure and citizens.
Traditionally, industrial plants, power stations, and waste-treatment facilities are located away from everyday life. They are necessary, but they are rarely places people want to see.
CopenHill turns that logic upside down.
The façade allows visitors to see parts of the facility’s inner workings, while the building itself provides opportunities for sports and views across the city. The plant stops being something the city tries to hide and becomes a new urban destination.
Even the façade was designed to contribute to this transformation. It is made of large stacked aluminum elements, with openings that allow natural light to enter and create a distinctive architectural appearance. Over time, some of these elements can also function as planters, bringing vegetation onto the building.
More Than a Ski Slope
CopenHill is fascinating because it is not simply a matter of “putting a ski slope on top of a factory.”
It represents a different way of thinking about the city.
The question changes from:
“Where do we put this infrastructure that we need but don’t want nearby?”
to:
“How can we turn necessary infrastructure into something that also contributes to the city?”
That shift in perspective may be the project’s greatest achievement.
A waste facility generates energy. Its roof becomes a mountain. The mountain becomes a park, a ski slope, and a gathering place. And an industrial facility becomes part of Copenhagen’s everyday landscape.
When the Façade Becomes an Experience
This image allows us to see one of CopenHill’s most distinctive design decisions: the incorporation of an enormous climbing wall directly into the building’s façade. The concrete surface, crossed by small, colorful climbing holds, transforms an industrial infrastructure into a place that invites activity and movement.
The photograph, taken from below, emphasizes the height and directs the gaze toward the sky. The perspective creates a sense of challenge while also making it clear that the building was not designed simply to be observed, but also to be explored and experienced.
At CopenHill, architecture ceases to function as a boundary between the building and the city. The façade itself becomes part of the experience.
In that sense, CopenHill is much more than an architectural curiosity. It is an example of how architecture can transform an unavoidable urban necessity into a positive experience for the people who live in the city.
And perhaps that is its most innovative idea of all: don’t hide what the city needs—design it so that people can enjoy it, too.