the Metro to Nordhavn
/At the end of March, the north part of the new M4 line of the Metro opened for trains to run from København H - the central railway station - to Orientkaj, out at the north harbour.
This new service follows the Cityring to Østerport but then, just north of the station, there is a large junction or intersection at the north end of Sortedamsø and immediately below the lake where the new line heads out to the north east. It goes under the main railway line and railway station at Nordhavn and under the main coast road - Kalkbrænderihavnsgade - to a new underground metro station just north of Nordhavn Basin.
Trains then climb steeply to the start of a new elevated section of track to terminate at a new elevated station at Ørientkaj, just over 2 kilometres from Østerport.
For now, the track stops just 70 metres beyond the new station but it will be extended on to serve new but as yet unbuilt housing and businesses at the outer or north part of Nordhavn and there are plans for it to continue to the terminals for cruise ships and, possibly, on further, back underground, to take passengers under the harbour and to Refshaleøen.
Going in the other direction, trains starting from Ørientkaj now terminate at København H - the central railway station - but the south end of the M4 line out to Sydhavn - the south harbour - is due to be completed in 2022 and then trains on the M4 line will continue on to Sluseholmen and on to what will be a major interchange with the suburban rail service at Ny Ellebjerg.
The new metro station at Nordhavn follows the same form as the other stations on the new Cityring …. so with the train tracks set apart and with a central platform between them. There is what is essentially an open concrete box above the platform that is rectangular in plan, the width of the platform and the length of the trains. This contains very open escalators, rising from the centre of the platform and free of the walls of the box and, just below street level, there is a large circulation area below street level where there are ticket machines, information panels and maps and so on with the open escalators at the centre. There are steps up to the street and, at many stations, access to underground bike storage at that level below the street. All the stations also have lifts - most with glass superstructures at street level and stops below at the ticket hall/circulation area and then at the platform.
But, here at Nordhavn, there are some distinct differences from that arrangement.
First, and perhaps most obvious, there are no skylights over the escalators. The public square above the station is only crudely laid out for now, with temporary paths for access, so it’s difficult to see how this will be organised and difficult to see why the distinct pyramid-shaped sky lights of so many of the other stations have been omitted here. These pyramid-shaped skylights over the escalators are important because they provide at least some natural light right down to the platform.
And where the other stations are set to the orientation of the streets or squares above - so with entrances and staircases and elevators that are either at each end or, in some, at the centre of each side - here at Nordhavn the tunnels and the station platform are set at an angle to the streetscape above. The east exit and entrance to Nordhavn runs out at an angle from the corner of that main hall just below street level as a short tunnel with steps to take passengers up to the street above but there is also a long pedestrian tunnel, for passengers to walk under the road and under the suburban railway, to connect the metro station to the suburban railway station and that runs out at an angle from the diagonally-opposite corner at the main ticket hall level immediately below ground. So, the main circulation area, immediately below the pavement, has a strong and distinct diagonal axis.
A unique feature in the new metro stations is a moving pavement for the main part of that long tunnel between the metro station and the suburban train station.
The walls of the box down to the platforms have the deep red cladding of other metro stations where there is an interchange between the metro and suburban trains and that deep red is also taken through the tunnel between the metro station and the suburban rail station as narrow vertical panels or stripes. In contrast, the flight of steps up to the square has striking black and white stripes.
I’m curious about this colour coding. From the train, passengers can just see the red above the platform so it might remind them to get off the train here for a railway interchange but how are visitors to the city to know that? And locals, who might have spotted the colour code, probably know where they are going anyway.
Just beyond the station at Nordhavn, trains emerge from the tunnels and run within hefty concrete channels that rise up steeply past Sundkaj to the new station at Ørientkaj that is just before Levantkaj where the track stops.
Of all the metro stations on the system, Orientkaj stands out with its strong style that owes more to engineering than to architecture.
Like the other stations, the platform at Orientkaj is set between the tracks - rather than on either side, outside the tracks - but the platform area and the tracks on either side are within a large glass box that has spectacular views straight down the dock to the Sound.
The platform area and its roof are supported on hefty concrete work with a broad V shape of supports rising from the ground and with a massive concrete cross beam that supports the platform but extends well beyond the platform with shallow notches in the top that take the troughs of the concrete track. Above, and supported on the ends of the cross beam, are large n-shaped concrete superstructures that seem to support the box of the platform. The design has echoes of the cranes on the docks that move containers along the quayside … so is this a clever visual game? Is the box hanging from the supports or simply paused before sliding on along the track?
Of course, the starting point for the design of the station may well be more mundane and more practical than anything to do with romantic evocations of the gantries of cranes for shipping containers …. it could be simply that, set at the head of the basin and close to the open sea, the glass box was needed to protect passengers and trains from the worst of the weather.
Unlike stations on the older above-ground sections of the Metro - on the lines running down to the airport and to Vestamager - there is a central tower here with two elevators together rather than single elevators at each end of the platform.
And instead of the industrial, gantry-style metal staircases down to the pavement at those first above-ground stations, here there are dog-leg staircases with solid parapets covered with small white, hexagonal tiles and the staircases are set at an angle rather than being straight and parallel to the tracks.
This has a vaguely Art-Deco feel that might or might not be a reference to the white beach-side architecture of Bellavue and Bellavista by Arne Jacobsen that is just along the coast to the north.
