Generally speaking, power plants are not pretty. They’re typically boxy buildings without any character and are usually located in undesirable locations. Rarely do people go out of their way to visit a power plant or hang out in its shadow. But a group of architects and designers from Denmark are about to transform a local waste-to-energy plant from eyesore to eye-poppin’.
Copenhagen-based Bjarke Ingels Group has been selected to transform a a building owned by waste-to-energy and recycling company Amagerforbrænding, located just outside Copenhagen in Amager. On their website, Bjarke Ingels Group says, “We want to do more than just create a beautiful skin around the factory. We want to add functionality!” To that end, they are rebranding the factory by turning its roof into a ski slope and adding other recreational elements to the surrounding site, such as rock climbing, karting and sailing.
An aerial illustration shows the location of the power plant and what the renovation would look like. The building’s rooftop will be reshaped to form an artificial ski slope with three different runs. The group’s goal is to use the building to link the nearby residential area with the industrial area.
Necessary machinery will still be contained inside the building, but an addition will house an area for administration and for a visitor center. A glass elevator will give visitors riding to the top a chance to see the factory’s inner workings. The building’s facade will contain planting boxes for living plants and allow natural sunlight to permeate.
The highest part of the building will be designed to cover the smoke stack, but the production of CO2 won’t go unnoticed. A specially modified stack will release a smoke ring (see upper right of image) each time a ton of CO2 has been produced. The ring can be lit up by lasers at night for dramatic effect. Expect to see this power plant finished and open to visitors by 2016.
source : http://news.discovery.com/tech/power-plant-is-also-ski-slope-110202.html