Residential buildings intermingle with industry and entrepreneurship in precisely the vibrant way that creates an interesting, tightly woven, and opportunity-filled city. It is of the utmost importance to preserve this diversity, and that is precisely why the entire project at Heimdalsgade 35 and 37 is so fascinating.

The property, which was built as a cookie factory in the early twentieth century, has since led a rich history with countless different owners and tenants. For this very reason, adding a rooftop level with two-story apartments will fit perfectly with the property’s highly varied history and will thus further enrich and develop the property.

Dueholm + Lund, in collaboration with JaJa Architects, has developed a project that creates four rooftop apartments, preserves the building’s characteristic cornice, and generally builds upon the property’s architectural history.

For the new penthouse apartments, ABC has developed a structural system that transfers all loads to the facades, thereby avoiding stress on the central load-bearing wall. This allows the additional floor to be added in the most non-invasive way possible, while also simplifying the layout of the apartments since the structural system is integrated into the facade.

ABC has verified that the existing foundations are strong enough to support the additional floor and has subsequently developed a system of self-supporting steel frames that form the floor’s overall skeleton. The frames are supplemented with wooden beams using the Posi-Joist system. A hybrid wood-and-steel structure that keeps the dead load low while providing ample load-bearing capacity for the purpose.

The steel frame structure supporting the new apartment floor is a self-contained, stable structure in its own right. It will be clad with wood on the exterior—for both aesthetic and weight-related reasons.