Gottlieb Paludan Adds Four Modern Brick Extensions To Old Industrial Buildings

Architects: Gottlieb Paludan Architects
Project: Modern brick additions to Borgergade District Cooling Plant, Tietgensgade District Cooling Plant, HC Ørstedsværket Transformer Station, & Marbjerg Vandværk Waterworks
Photography: Lars Rolfsted Mortensen & Anders Sune Berg
City: Copenhagen, Høje-Taastrup Municipality
Country: Denmark

Gottlieb Paludan Architects has completed four modern brick extensions to historic industrial buildings in Denmark, blending contemporary design with traditional brickwork. Focused on energy sector architecture since the 1940s, the firm developed substations, cooling plants, and waterworks in Copenhagen and Marbjerg. Located in brick-rich areas, each project uses brick to modernize and complement existing structures. Notable works include the Tietgensgade District Cooling Plant, expanded with a new brick volume; a substation for the HC Ørsted Power Plant with ribbed brickwork; a district cooling plant in Borgergade with a noise-reducing brick exterior; and a waterworks in Marbjerg with red-brown brick to match the surroundings. The designs focus on subtle brick techniques, creating a modern yet respectful presence.

Danish firm Gottlieb Paludan Architects has developed a series of substations, cooling plants, and waterworks across Denmark, all showcasing modern brickwork techniques.

Gottlieb paludan adds four modern brick extensions to old industrial buildings

Specializing in energy sector buildings since the 1940s, Gottlieb Paludan was commissioned to design new structures in Copenhagen and the village of Marbjerg. The team adopted a historically sensitive approach to update the traditional style of industrial buildings.

Each facility is situated in a traditionally industrial area where brick has been a consistent building material for decades, leading the architects to select brick for their new additions as well.

The biggest design challenge was working closely alongside historic buildings, as explained by creative director Jesper Gottlieb. The team needed to find a way to respond to the ornate and delicate brick facades in a manner that was both appropriate and contemporary, without falling into pastiche. This challenge led them to focus on making subtle changes in brick bonding.

Aiming to complement the classical shapes and ornamentation of the existing brick structures, the extensions use simpler, more modern decorative elements that are integral to their construction.

The differences between the old and new structures are expressed through details such as ribbed brick bonding patterns and the use of simple cubic forms.

Gottlieb noted, “It is more challenging to make a brick building look good when placed next to a historic brick building. When the level of craft and detail cannot be matched, it is better to interpret rather than to copy.”

At the Tietgensgade District Cooling Plant, one of Copenhagen’s earliest power stations has been converted and expanded to house a seawater cooling plant and an administration office. The original gabled roofline of the disused power station was raised to accommodate the cooling plant, with a flat-topped red brick addition that matches the tone of the surrounding buildings.

Clean lines and a horizontal pattern of recessed brickwork distinguish the structure as a new extension, while its solid mass aligns with the heavy volumes of the surrounding complex.

A similar approach is applied at a substation for the HC Ørsted Power Plant, added next to a 1920s building. The new transformer building encloses an existing switching station and matches the height of the adjacent structure. Its uniform facade features alternating courses of standard and extra-wide bricks, creating a ribbed texture.

Grate-like openings in the facades allow daylight to enter while providing ventilation for smoke in case of a fire. Expansion joints, which accommodate movement in the bricks, are designed as decorative elements, forming vertical stripes that run from the door edges to the roofline along the long elevation.

The third facility in Copenhagen is a district cooling plant in the Borgergade neighborhood, featuring a solid exterior that minimizes noise from the machinery inside. Its simple form echoes the design of early industrial buildings in the area, while recessed brickwork adds texture to the monolithic structure.

The most recently completed facility is a waterworks in Marbjerg, consisting of three volumes clad in red-brown brick that matches the existing waterworks and service buildings on the site.

Across all the projects, the architects sought to use brick in a manner that subtly complements the visual language of the industrial surroundings while introducing a discreetly modern presence.

“Louis Kahn says that bricks talk loudly about what they want to be, but I have always found them continuously quiet and, like an old respected grandfather at a family dinner table, bricks can command total attention in complete silence,” Jesper Gottlieb said.