Munkeengen in Hillerød, Denmark, is a mixed-use development comprising housing and commercial spaces, acting as a link between the historic town centre near Frederiksborg Castle and the emerging Favrholm district. The project supports the municipality’s urban plans and meets requirements for social diversity and climate-friendly design.

The development is a perimeter block featuring 107 apartments of varying sizes to ensure a diverse residential composition, along with three commercial units and two levels of parking on the ground floor, including a mezzanine deck. The block is articulated through height variations and subdivided volumes, visually breaking down the scale of the large building mass. The façade features patterned brickwork, bay windows, and balconies, which together create variety and unity. The ground floor has a higher ceiling to accommodate functions such as retail spaces, courtyard entrances, and bicycle parking. Private threshold zones along the façades offer residents a degree of privacy, while the street façade features an active urban edge forming part of a new retail thoroughfare connecting to the city centre.

Durable and green

The courtyard above the ground floor parking encourages a variety of communal activities and play — from sandpits to seating platforms and sensory areas gardens. Residents also have access to two large rooftop terraces and surrounding landscaped areas. The courtyard is divided into four islands connected by a winding path network, providing benches and play equipment and creating a calm and semi-private atmosphere around the terraces.

Materials are simple and durable. The red-brown brick façades and colour tones reflect Hillerød’s historic building tradition. The bay windows stand out with brown hues, while the base is darker. Paving in the courtyard corresponds to the brick tones of the façades.

Rainwater is collected from the green roofs, and the building is DGNB Gold certified.