Swimmers at the copenhagen kai bathhouse, known as KAI, will float beneath open sky, in a valley formed by five brick towers on Copenhagen’s waterfront. The 5,800-square-meter Water Culture House, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, is scheduled to open on December 5, 2026, on Papirøen, or Paper Island.
The copenhagen kai bathhouse holds ten indoor and outdoor pools, along with wellness spaces and cultural facilities. It sits in the island’s northwestern corner, near the Copenhagen Opera House and Opera Park.
Designer: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Five towers, one changing silhouette
The towers do not form a single monumental facade. They rise to different heights, so the outline shifts as people walk around the site. Their peaked forms echo the pyramid-shaped residential buildings nearby, a move that places bathhouse architecture in conversation with its neighbors.
Approximately 300,000 handmade bricks cover the angular surfaces. The masonry is laid in staggered, stepped patterns, and Designboom notes that the gray tones vary in a way that relates to the older harbor architecture of the city.
Brick on a waterfront site is hardly unique to Copenhagen. Lisbon’s brick and steel homes beside the Tagus show how masonry can respond to river light and setting.
A continuous band of glass runs along the ground level. From the quay, the heavy brick volumes appear to rest on that transparent base, and the contrast softens their weight.
Designboom counts 403 windows of different sizes across the brick facades. Some admit daylight into the bathing areas, while others frame views of the harbor.
The Danish Architecture Center links this filtered light to komorebi, the Japanese term for sunlight passing through leaves. Here the reference becomes a working device. Openings break the light into smaller patches instead of depending on broad glass walls.
Swimming on three levels at the copenhagen kai bathhouse
The ground floor holds a 25-meter pool, a teaching pool and three children’s play pools. Visitors reach the harbor directly from this level, through designated swimming and dipping zones.
Upstairs, the outdoor Valley Pool sits on the first floor between the towers. Designboom reports that swimmers there can see the sky overhead and experience rain and snowfall from the water. A heated onsen, a Japanese-style hot spring, overlooks the harbor on the same floor.
Designboom also lists a cold plunge pool, warmer bathing areas, saunas and a steam bath. Both outdoor pools are designed for year-round use. A ground-source heat pump, connected to ten boreholes that extend 250 meters underground, supplies the heating.
The shapes follow the rooms they contain. According to executive architect Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, four brick volumes trace the outlines of the pools below. The tallest houses the Culture Tower. Across the copenhagen kai bathhouse, each activity gets its own spatial identity rather than sharing one enclosed hall.
From a 2015 request to a harbor landmark
The project that became the copenhagen kai bathhouse began with a City of Copenhagen ideas competition in 2015. Residents submitted 160 proposals for a cultural and leisure facility on Paper Island, and most called for a swimming facility.
The architectural competition took place in 2017. Kengo Kuma & Associates won it, working with Cornelius Vöge Atelier for Architecture in the early design stages and with Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects on detailed design and construction. Engineering firm Søren Jensen also worked on the team.
Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor, Sisse Marie Welling, framed the project in terms of need.
The Culture Tower will house spaces for culture and movement. Dezeen reports that it also contains a third-floor events space.
Outside, a timber boardwalk and harbor bath are planned. The swimming and dipping areas overlook the Royal Danish Playhouse and Opera Park. The public bathing facilities are expected to open in early 2027, after the building’s December opening.
For another take on restorative bathing, a cedar and granite spa carved from a former ice hut shows how natural materials can shape a calm, sensory retreat.
The copenhagen kai bathhouse is one part of a wider redevelopment of Paper Island led by the Danish studio COBE. For Copenhagen, the result is a building that returns a public request to the waterfront, and the harbor’s shift from industrial use to public life now has a place to swim.
Source: yankodesign.com
Frequently asked questions
When does the Copenhagen KAI bathhouse open to the public?
The Copenhagen KAI bathhouse, also called the Water Culture House, is scheduled to open on December 5, 2026, on Papirøen (Paper Island). The public bathing facilities are expected to open in early 2027, after the building’s December opening.
Who designed the Copenhagen KAI bathhouse?
The Copenhagen KAI bathhouse was designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, which won the architectural competition held in 2017. Cornelius Vöge Atelier for Architecture worked on the early design stages, and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects handled detailed design and construction.
How many pools does the Copenhagen KAI bathhouse have?
The Copenhagen KAI bathhouse holds ten indoor and outdoor pools. These include a 25-meter pool, a teaching pool, three children’s play pools, and an outdoor Valley Pool between the towers.
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