Danish architecture practice COBE have today (11 February) been named the winner of an international design competition to masterplan a new leisure district on an artificial quay in Copenhagen’s harbour.

Despite its location next to the city’s opera house and the Royal Danish Playhouse, Christiansholm Island is the last undeveloped area along the city’s waterfront. It has been used over the past 50 years by the Danish press for newspaper storage, inspiring the nickname ‘Paper Island’.

In April last year, CPH City & Port Development organised a competition seeking a studio who could transform the 29,000sq m (312,000sq ft) area into a new destination for Copenhagen.

COBE’s winning proposal – which has been developed with Dutch landscape architects Inside Outside and German climate engineers Transsolar – builds on the provisional urban life that already exists by replacing industrial warehouses with informal public buildings, including an art gallery, an events hall and a new swimming centre.

The buildings will be encircled by a green, intimate courtyard and the whole island will be flanked by a unifying public promenade.

“Our vision for the island’s future is to create a place that celebrates the city’s culture and the Copenhagen way of life,” said COBE creative director Dan Stubbergaard. “It was important for us that Christiansholm, also in future, will be a first-class example of Copenhagen’s generous urban living that can attract tourists and visitors and at the same time has a strong local presence.”

COBE, which has its own offices on the island, will now develop their design in collaboration with CPH City & Port Development and the City of Copenhagen.

The six other studios in contention for the project were OMA, MVRDV, Henning Larsen Architects, C.F Møller, Adept and Holscher Nordberg + Polyform.

COBE's previous projects include a striking mixed-use masterplan for Ragnarock in Denmark and a new development scheme for Helsinki's 40,000sq m bay (430,500sq ft) bay.