Danish practice COBE has transformed a soaring industrial silo on Copenhagen’s North Harbour into apartments.

The 17-storey concrete structure was used to store grain for 50 years before becoming obsolete. COBE has changed the silo’s appearance for clients Klaus Kastbjerg and NRE Denmark, creating an angular steel façade whose patina pays homage to the area’s industrial past. The tower’s vast concrete floors have been carved into 38 apartments ranging from 106 sq m to 401 sq m.

‘We wanted to retain the spirit of The Silo as much as possible – both in terms of its monolithic exterior and majestic concrete interior, by simply draping it with a new overcoat,’ says Dan Stubbergaard, founder of COBE.

Following its adaptive reuse, The Silo now has top-and-tail public spaces: a mirrored glass box on the top floor houses a public restaurant – slated to open later this year – while the ground floor is designed as a flexible event space, and currently hosts an exhibition about the North Harbour developments.

Apartments, which have floor heights of up to 7 meters, are a mix of single and multi-level and have been fitted with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies. The first residents have already started moving in, with more to follow over the summer.

The Silo is the centrepiece of the ongoing redevelopment of Copenhagen’s North Harbour as a new residential and mixed-use neighbourhood, including the adjacent multi-storey-turned-playground Park + Play by JAJA Architects.

COBE is also revamping the harbour’s Christiansholm (aka Paper Island), into a creative hub. It is currently the temporary home of Copenhagen Contemporary.

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