Nearly eight years after winning a competition for the site, the New York firm revealed that its Copenhagen Gate proposal now has a construction date pencilled in for 2016.

The design for the dramatic new harbour entrance to the great city of Copenhagen is based on a concept of two hotel and office towers carrying two bridges at two orientations all connecting back to the unique aspects of the site’s history. The Langelinie site, a berth for ocean ships for decades, is expressed in the Langelinie tower, Gate L, with geometry taken from the site’s shape. A prow-like public deck thrusts out to the sea horizon. Gate L is expected to be furnished with cafes and restaurants. The Marmormolen tower, Gate M, connects back to the City.

Each tower carries its own cable-stay bridge between the two piers. Due to the site geometry, these bridges meet at an angle, joining like a handshake over the harbour. The soffits below the bridges and under the cantilevers pick up the bright colours of the harbour; container orange on the undersides of the Langelinie, bright yellow on the undersides of the Marmormolen. At night the uplights washing the coloured aluminium reflect like paintings in the water.

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