the main entrance on the north-west side is at the end of a long bridge over the main railway tracks from the suburban train station at Dybbølsbro

the main entrance to Fisketorvet from the west … here, Kalvebod Brygge, the main road into and out of the city from the south, is down in an underpass with high retaining walls for the slip roads

Construction work has started on a major revamp and upgrade of the Fisketorvet shopping centre at the south end of the harbour. The restaurant area at the north-east corner of the building is closed and the exterior is now under scaffolding.

There was a fish market for the city here from 1958 through to 1999 when it was moved to the North Harbour.

The shopping centre with a large cinema was designed by Kiehlers Architects and it opened on the site of the fish market in 2000. Inside it is light and really it’s not bad for a large shopping centre from that period with shops on well-lit malls on the level of the main entrance from Dybbølsbro and on the level above and a large supermarket on the south-east side at a lower level that is reached from a quay alongside a canal.

However, the exterior is certainly looking a bit tired and more than a bit dated. A series of six tall dark towers across the south end and down the south-east side towards the canal are stark and oppressive.

A new metro station will open in 2024 at the south-west end of the shopping centre, where there was a car park, and in the last three or four years new apartment buildings have been constructed in this part of the city so, presumably, major investment in the shopping centre, can now be justified.

The centre has a service road at the lowest level, on the side towards Kalvebod Brygge - a dual carriageway with heavy traffic that is a main way in and out of the city from the south - and there was parking at the lowest level. Like so many shopping centres of that period, it was inward looking - so punters were not distracted from the whole spending experience - but the plan now seems to be for new, outward-facing shops that will be built to make the centre more inviting and more open to the community around.