Enormous “Cacti” will soon pop up in the heart of Copenhagen. Architecture firm BIG has unveiled plans to build an eye-catching pair of buildings with a spiny appearance in the city’s Vesterbro district. Created in collaboration with Danish practice Dorte Mandrup Architects, the aptly named Cactus Towers are high-rise residential buildings that will be built next to a new sustainably minded IKEA store. Located next to the waterfront area of Kalvebod Brygge, the 74,000 square meter site will comprise a new IKEA store, budget hotel, and green space in addition to the two planned Cactus Towers. The pair of buildings gets its name from the striking spiky-looking facade created by rotated floor plates. The corners of those floor plates create overhangs that provide shade. The buildings will rise to 60 and 80 meters tall and feature 500 “youth rooms.” The new IKEA next door to the towers will not have any parking on cars and will encourage shoppers to take away their smaller purchases on bicycle. The 1,250-room hotel also on site will be spread across two volumes and is expected to be the largest hotel in the Nordic region. The project is set to open in 2019.

Apple just unveiled plans to build 100 percent renewable energy powered two data centers in Denmark and Ireland. Like all Apple data-centers, the new ones will run entirely clean, renewable energy sources. Constructed at a total cost of US$ 1.9 billion, the data centers will each measure 166 thousand square meters and will power the company's iTunes App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri services. The data centers will be located in Athenry in western Ireland and in Viborg in central Denmark and Apple expects them to be operational in 2017. Not only will the facilities be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, but they will also be constructed with additional sustainable features. The center in Athenry, Ireland, will include an outdoor education center for local schools and a walking trail, and is to be constructed on land "previously used for growing and harvesting non-native trees." Additionally the company will seek to restore native trees to nearby Derrydonnell Forest. The Apple Data center for Viborg, Denmark will be designed to capture excess heat from the servers, which will then be conducted into the district's heating system to provide warmth for adjoining communities. Furthermore, it will be located next to one of Denmark's largest electrical substations, removing the need for additional generators. As for precisely what renewable energy sources the data centers will utilize, it is likely that Apple will embrace the potentials of wind energy in the reason, and Apple emphasizes that they will "work with local partners to develop additional renewable energy projects from wind or other sources to provide power in the future. These facilities will have the lowest environmental impact yet for an Apple data center."

The Blue Planet, a swirling vortex designed to suck you in to learn about life under the sea, opens in Copenhagen. Designed by 3XN, The Blue Planet is now Europe's largest aquarium and is devoted to education about aquatic animals as well as the important connection between water and the planet. Filled with 7 million liters of sea water, the aquarium has a variety of exhibitions to introduce the young and old to different animals and environments. Naturally, the aquarium is also dedicated to saving endangered species, improving water quality, protecting habitats and raising environmental awareness. The Blue Planet, is the newest version of the Denmark Aquarium in Copenhagen dating back to 1939. Located on the shores of (Oeresund), the aquarium has a picturesque view of the sea and convenient access to roadways and the city. Design of the project began back in 2007 through an international competition, which local firm 3XN won with their swirling proposal. Construction was completed in 2013 with an official opening date of March 22nd of 2013. The design is meant to draw you in, like a whirling vortex and pull visitors down into the depths of the water to explore and learn about life under the sea. Kim Herforth Nielsen, Creative Director and Principal at 3XN, who is the architect of the building explained, "Our wish was to bring our visitors all the way down to the world of the fish. Therefore, the design of The Blue Planet is based on the story about water and life under the sea. We visualize the construction as a whirlpool which draws visitors into the depths to the fascinating experiences waiting among fish and sea animals from all over the world." Upon entrance into the center of the vortex, the public can choose one of four whirls, each with different exhibitions including the coral reefs, the ocean, Africa's lakes, the Amazon river, the Faro bird cliffs and even an exhibit about the ocean right outside the aquarium. The Blue Planet is home to 450 different species and 20,000 fish and other aquatic animals, which include sharks, sea lions, dwarf crocodiles, moray eels, barracudas and much more. Water inside the aquarium is filtered and recycled in a closed loop system, while seawater is used to keep the entire facility cool. One of the whirls with indoor gardens and vegetation is naturally lit from above with skylights. The Blue Planet is devoted to nature conservation as well as raising awareness to water issues. The aquarium partners with researchers for scientific collaboration and work to reduce over-fishing, pollution and endangered species. It was also designed to be sustainable and self-sufficient as part of their mission to further and promote solutions that benefit the environment and nature.

A beautiful 1870s barn located within the luscious Danish countryside was recently refurbished and turned into a creative cultural hub, reported The Inhabitat. Local architects Praksis were commissioned by the Realdania foundation to renovate the thatched roof wooden shelter on the outskirts of Mogeltonder, near Sonderhaven. Owned by HRH Prince Joakim, the centenarian space is now a green and gorgeous environment that hosts exhibitions, films, and music events. Located close to an area of marshland, the old barn has undergone a complete renovation that kept its original features intact. Externally, the building features a red brick wall topped by a thatched straw roof. Inside, the original bent wooden walls have been refurbished to their former glory, and their curvature actually yields great acoustics for musical performances. The exhibition space's floor was made using the terrazzo technique. The builders recycled a ballast of large local fieldstones to cover the entire 300 square meters space. Praksis designed the exhibition space so that it's flexible enough to be used for diverse cultural events including exhibitions, films and music. Three black fiberglass boxes containing the toilets, a cinema and a digital projector can be moved around to serve different functions. The old refurbished Danish barn is a great cultural hub in the country.

The Scandinavia's largest hotel opened recently in Copenhagen, Denmark. It symbolizes not only the identity of the modern Orested area of Copenhagen, but also marks the Capital's increasing importance on the international convention and congress scene. Its location also ensures direct access to the international conference and exhibition venue, Bella Center, Copenhagen Airport and the historical Copenhagen city center. Project's customer is Bella Center, and 3XN architectural company has designed The Bella Sky Hotel. Ramboll Cosnculting engineering Group participated in the project as consulting engineer on structures, sewers and earthworks and the senior project manager is Kaare K.B. Dahl. "One of our biggest challenges was to grasp and handle the very complex geometry and to do this TEKLA has proved invaluable" Kaare K.B. Dahl explains. All calculations and drawings used by Ramboll on the project were extracted from a 3D model. The calculation program ROBOT worked together with the design program TEKLA. This 3D structural building information modeling (BIM) system provides you with the ability to create all types of complex structures. The combination of these two programs made it possible to calculate things such as: How will the earth deform when the building settles? How far will the top of the building move sideways in the present conditions? Every detail was entered into the model which incorporated all changes into the 2D drawings generated directly from the 3D model. The Bella Sky Hotel Consists of two towers. The two towers lean 15 degrees to each side. Two towers leaning in opposite directions at an almost four times that of the leaning tower of Pisa. The geometrical dare continues as the top nine floors of tower one and the bottom nine floors of tower two both twist an additional 19 degrees horizontally. They are 76.5 meters tall with a total of 814 rooms and a building area of 44,173 thousand square meters. Accommodating 814 rooms, 32 conference rooms, 3 restaurants, lounge, a sky bar and a 850 square meter wellness centre the hotel will meet the wishes of a much needed extension to the Bella Centre Conference facilities and prepare Copenhagen to host large international events in the future. Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal and Founder of 3XN said "Most international convention hotels have a formal and impersonal style. We wanted to address this by doing the opposite. We designed the interior of Bella Sky in a style reminiscent of a tasteful Scandinavian home with warmth, light and connection to nature."