Lighthouse, Denmark's tallest residential tower

Located in Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, Lighthouse stands at 142 meters tall, making it the tallest residential building in Denmark. Combining a high-rise structure with groups of terraced houses to foster community and interaction, the design adds a sun-lit seaside promenade with cafés, shops, and a large square for leisure activities. The masterplan emphasizes the interaction between private and public areas.

Design inspiration

Lighthouse was designed with the sea, the waves, nature, and the view of the entire bay as sources of inspiration. The facade is inspired by the reflective lights in the surrounding water. Departing from Denmark’s traditional heritage of precast concrete, the building adopted a more modern approach to high-rise construction with hybrid solutions that mix in-situ reinforced and post-tensioned concrete construction with precast columns. This resulted in a shorter build time and a lighter superstructure.

Energy efficiency

Denmark has implemented a comprehensive energy framework that requires buildings to comply with some of the strictest energy consumption standards in the world. Compliance with the framework has been instrumental in promoting the construction of highly efficient buildings.

The design had a strong vision for reducing the embodied carbon footprint by adopting innovative solutions. A core-in-core solution minimizes concrete requirements in the core by incorporating some of the wall around the core in the jump form solution, thereby extending the core footprint without affecting circulation, thickness, and functionality.

Utilizing district heating, the development enjoys several sustainable and environmental benefits, including reduced CO2 emissions, lower energy consumption (compared to individual systems), improved air quality (due to reduced emissions), and increased resilience (due to system reliability).

Data-driven design

The entire design development was driven by the district masterplan, coupled with social development studies and cultural trends, aiming to bring people together, including visitors to the harbor. The design is data-driven, with a structural dashboard produced in the early stage of design to track project developments based on selected criteria: acceleration on top, number of piles, weight of structure, and amount of concrete per area.

Innovation in the building systems is exemplified by scaling up a "standard" building system strategy in Denmark to new heights. Solutions such as solar panels, accounting for extra thermal mass in the floor build-up, exposed concrete partition walls, energy-saving pumps, air handling units with heat recovery, and thick insulation on pipes and windows with low U-values contribute to achieving a calculated energy frame of less than 34 kWh/m2/yr according to local regulations.

Achieving such an energy-efficient tall building promises great comfort and energy savings for users while setting an example for more sustainable residential towers globally, particularly in this region.