Architect in Gentofte

The houses in Gentofte

The municipality's own architecture policy describes lush villa quarters and many fine villas of high architectural value, built for private clients.

Several of the country's finest architects have built here. Arne Jacobsen drew Bellavista in Klampenborg, and Zaha Hadid drew the extension to Ordrupgaard. Blidahparken was the first park estate of the 1930s.

In Hellerup, G. N. Brandt laid out Hellerup Strandpark. The policy calls it perhaps Denmark's first park laid out on functionalist ideas.

The green is part of it. The municipality counts the trees and hedges in the villa areas as part of the town's green structure, and both have local plans of their own.

The municipality's architecture policy (in Danish) ↗

Is my house worth preserving?

You can find out. In 2003–2004 the municipality registered about 15,000 buildings built before 1970 and gave each a grade from 1 to 9, with 1 the highest. Buildings graded 1–4 are designated worth preserving. That is about 4,500 buildings, named in the municipal plan and in the local plans.

If your house is worth preserving, the municipality must approve any change to its exterior. That covers doors, windows and balconies, materials, colours, window formats and the roof covering. To demolish it, you must apply for a demolition permit.

You apply through Byg og Miljø, the national building-permit portal, as a planning enquiry.

The municipality's page on buildings worth preserving (in Danish) ↗

What may you build on a villa plot in Gentofte?

The local plan for your property decides. It sets the plot ratio — how much floor area the plot may carry — and often the number of storeys and the height. In many of the municipality's villa plans the plot ratio is 25 per cent for each property.

The ratio is calculated by the building regulations that applied when the local plan for your property was made. Properties under local plan 402 are calculated by the 2018 building regulations.

Gentofte also has local plans that cover one subject across all its villa areas: balconies and roof terraces, free-standing basements and raised terraces, hedges and fences along the road, where small buildings may stand, and trees worth preserving. A project can therefore fall under several plans at once. If you plan an extension in Gentofte, it is often the plot ratio and these theme plans that set the frame.

Small buildings such as a carport or a shed need no building permit as long as together they stay under 50 m² on the plot. They must still meet the local plan and the plot ratio.

Find the local plan for your address (in Danish) ↗

How do you build new in an old villa street?

Often the task is to replace a house from the 1950s or 60s in a street built between 1900 and the 1930s. The new house will stand in that street for many years, and it has to belong there.

We start by reading the street: roof form, materials, where the houses sit in relation to the road, and how high they go. What is good, we keep. The new answers the street rather than copying it. We do not sell a style.

The municipality's architecture policy puts it this way: "We look after our cultural heritage, but there must also be room for new architecture that reflects the time we live in."

If the house you want to replace was built before 1970, it has been graded. Check the grade before you plan to demolish.

A new house on a plot with neighbours →Extensions →Listed and preservation-worthy houses →

Before you buy or begin

Five questions that decide what you can build:

• What does the local plan allow — plot ratio, storeys and height?
• How much of the building right is already used?
• Is the house worth preserving, and what grade has it been given?
• Are there trees worth preserving, or rules for hedges and fences?
• Does the project need a dispensation from the local plan?

How much does an architect cost? →