BIG's figure-eight — a mountain village stacked into a suburban housing block
8 House (Danish: 8TALLET), also known as Big House, is a large mixed-use development built in the shape of a figure 8 on the southern perimeter of the new suburb of Ørestad in Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the bow-shaped building consists of 61,000 square metres of three different types of residential housing and 10,000 square metres of retail premises and offices. It is the largest private development ever undertaken in Denmark. Commissioned by Store Frederikslund Holding, Høpfner A/S and Danish Oil Company A/S in 2006, it is Ingels' third housing development in Ørestad, following VM Houses and Mountain Dwellings.
Featured in Bjarke Ingels's definitive monograph, BIG: Formgiving.
Visitor Guide
You can walk (or cycle) the continuous path from ground level to the 10th floor rooftop gardens. The building is residential, so be respectful, but the communal pathway is public.
From across the canal for the full figure-eight profile. Inside the courtyard, the cascading green terraces create an unexpected vertical landscape.
The ground-level commercial spaces and external path are publicly accessible. Residential areas are private. The rooftop path is the highlight.
BIG designed it so every apartment has a front door at ground level — achieved by stacking units along a continuous slope, like a Mediterranean hill town. The figure-8 shape creates two distinct courtyard microclimates.
45 minutes
Design & Structure
Bjarke Ingels Group used parametric massing studies to find the optimal figure-eight loop that maximized sunlight, views, and the continuous-path concept. Each of the 476 residences was individually shaped by its position on the loop.
Brick cladding (referencing Danish tradition), aluminum, green roof terraces. The brick color graduates from dark at the base to light at the summit — a computational gradient mapping.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed 8 House?+
8 House was designed by Bjarke Ingels and completed in 2010. It is located in Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark.
Where is 8 House located?+
8 House is located in Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. Its coordinates are 55.6174°, 12.5718°.
When was 8 House built?+
8 House was completed in 2010. It was designed by Bjarke Ingels.
Can I visit 8 House?+
8 House is a real building in Copenhagen Municipality that can be viewed from the outside. Check local information for interior access and visiting hours. Use the Parametric Atlas walking tour feature to plan a route that includes this building.