Sluseholmen Canal District

Sluseholmen Canal District (Sluseholmen Kanalby) is a residential development, located on Sluseholmen peninsula in the South Harbour area of Copenhagen, Denmark. The development comprises 1,350 apartments. The apartments are built on eight artificial islands, separated by dug-out canals.

The Sluseholmen peninsula used to house heavy industry, including a Ford cars factory. As the industry left the area, a plan was conceived to develop Sluseholmen into a canal district. The plan was a result of a cooperation between Sjoerd Soeters, Arkitema, Port of Copenhagen and the City of Copenhagen. Construction started in 2004, the first residents moved in in 2007 and by 2008 development of the new canal district had been completed.

On each island is a closed block of townhouses, 4-7 stories tall, built around a sheltered courtyard with public access. The houses frequently stand directly on the canals, while bridges, wharfs and " ghats " create direct contact to the water. To ensure a veried cityscape, the facades of the individual townhouses were designed by 20 different architecture practices.

Arkitema drew up a set of dogma, governing the materials used, colours and proportions of the facade designs. It was also decided that at least five different firms had to be involved in the design of each island. The result is lively and imaginative block housing, with individual houses highly diverse in appearance.