As migration puts growth pressure on Denmark’s largest city, Copenhagen is promoting the conversion of under-utilized attics into apartments as a way to create new housing while maintaining the city's built form and character.
“Copenhagen is growing at a rate of 1,000 new residents each month, and all of those people need a place to live,” writes ‘RW’ for the Copenhagen Post.
“In order to promote the construction of penthouse flats in the attics of buildings in the older parts of the city, the City Council has changed building codes to allow the conversion of previously sloped roofs into vertical walls, according to Poul Nielsen, who heads up the council's construction department. This turns small attics into larger living spaces. An analysis from the Technical University of Denmark showed that attic penthouses could provide homes for 22,000 people.”
“The council and other local groups pointed out that the historical reasons that rooms were not originally included in the older buildings - such as leaking due to poor roofing materials and a long trip to the privy in the garden - no longer apply.”
Read the full story: Copenhagen expands upwards to house more attic dwellers
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