Copenhagen's Kai Water Culture House Opens to the Public on 5 December
Copenhagen is about to get a new place to swim, sweat and sit by the water. Kai Water Culture House opens to the public on 5 December, according to Dezeen, which reported on the building this week as it nears completion.
The centre sits on Christiansholm, an artificial island in the Danish capital that locals call Papirøen, or Paper Island. It was designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, the Tokyo firm led by Kengo Kuma, working with Cornelius Vöge, Søren Jensen and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects. The firm and Vöge won the 2017 architecture competition for the project, according to Vilhelm Lauritzen's project page. Kengo Kuma & Associates calls the project the Waterfront Culture Center, and says it is meant to highlight the role water has played in history, culture and city life.
The building is a 5,800-square-metre aquatic centre, roughly the size of a large sports hall. It is made up of five staggered buildings sitting on a glass base, with pyramid-shaped towers framing its pools. Inside, there will be ten indoor and outdoor pools, along with wellness facilities and cultural spaces.
The tallest of the five volumes, called the Culture Tower, holds cultural programmes, including an events space on the third floor. The other four towers each house indoor pools. Between the brick volumes sits an outdoor pool on the first floor. There is also an open-air onsen, a Japanese hot-spring bath, overlooking the harbour.
The walls are built from 300,000 handmade bricks. Dezeen counts 403 windows of varying sizes across the facade, which lets light and views reach each pool at a different angle. A wooden pier runs along the front of the building and gives direct access to the sea. That pier is due to be finished early next year, so it will not be ready for the December opening.
Kai Water Culture House has been in the works for years, and the wait for Copenhagen's swimmers is almost over. Visitors who want to be among the first through the doors will have a few weeks to plan. The opening date has been reported in the same way by ArchDaily, which gave 5 December 2026 for the opening.
