The Opera Park by Cobe: A Green Oasis Amidst Urban Development

The journey of The Opera Park began in 2019 when the A.P. Møller Foundation commissioned Cobe to design a new park on a former industrial island in Copenhagen’s inner harbor. This location, adjacent to The Royal Danish Opera, had been a modest green lawn for nearly two decades. Today, it stands as a diverse and natural landscape, challenging the dense urban development that surrounds it.

The Opera Park is not just a park; it’s a collection of six gardens, each representing different parts of the world. These gardens include the North American Forest, the Danish Oak Forest, the Nordic Forest, the Oriental Garden, the English Garden, and the Subtropical Garden housed within a stunning greenhouse and atrium at its center. These gardens hold delightful surprises, such as fountains, water lily ponds, and reflecting pools, creating a soothing ambiance for visitors.

Dan Stubbergaard, Founder of Cobe and a Professor at Harvard, emphasizes that The Opera Park prioritizes nature in the midst of Copenhagen’s urban development. Designed to address contemporary challenges such as biodiversity decline and water management, the park offers a much-needed green oasis. As you explore the park, you’ll feel like you’ve left the city and entered a natural wonderland, forgetting the urban hustle.

The Opera Park sets the stage for experiencing nature in the heart of Copenhagen. Like an opera stage, the park is a composed landscape with a foreground, a middle ground and a background. The 80,000 plants and 600+ trees are placed to naturally create a scenic setting facing the harbor. The terrain and trees are tallest where they create the background, and lowest in the foreground towards the harbor

– Dan Stubbergaard, Founder of Cobe

The Opera Park is designed to be inviting year-round. It features an impressive array of 628 trees, 80,000 herbaceous perennials and bushes, and 40,000 bulb plants from around the world. This diversity ensures a vibrant and ever-changing backdrop for visitors throughout the seasons. The park becomes a canvas painted with different colors and scents, from spring’s bloom to winter’s tranquility.

At the park’s core lies a remarkable greenhouse with a café, providing access to underground parking. This organically shaped glass structure, with its hovering roof, surprises and delights visitors as they navigate the lush landscape. The greenhouse ensures that The Opera Park remains vibrant year-round, even during Copenhagen’s chilly winters.

The park also features a covered connection to the adjacent Royal Danish Opera via a landscaped bridge, creating a weather-protected link between the parking facility and the Opera. The curved glass and floating roof of this walkway harmonize with the park’s landscape design, integrating nature and architecture seamlessly.

The Opera Park prioritizes sustainability. Rainwater is collected and used for greenhouse irrigation, and permeable gravel pathways and rain beds are designed for efficient water management. Solar panels on the Opera’s roof provide power to the underground parking facility, the park, and the greenhouse. Robust and recyclable materials, along with strategically planted trees, protect against strong winds and potential flooding.