Two newly built apartment buildings in the Fælledby district on Amager Fælled in Copenhagen will be demolished after engineers found severe construction faults. The two buildings contain 172 owner-occupied and rental homes.
The developer Fælledby announced the decision on September 9, 2026, and DR reports that the buildings will be dismantled and torn down. The two blocks are part of a new district under construction on Amager Fælled.
According to a press release from Fælledby, all affected buyers and tenants have been informed and will be compensated. The company says it has contacted everyone involved with an offer of compensation.
The decision follows a technical investigation by the engineering firm Sweco. Fælledby commissioned the review after the project’s main contractor, Scandi Byg, went bankrupt in 2025.
Per the investigation, the buildings were not erected in accordance with the approved building project. It found significant faults and defects, and the technical experts doubt whether the buildings could be made legal at all. The two blocks are assessed as total losses.
Board chairman: not safe to occupy
Fælledby board chairman Henrik Steenstrup says the buildings in no way match what was agreed with the former main contractor. As stated by Steenstrup, it would not be responsible to put the buildings into use and let residents move in.
Speaking to DR, he said what was drawn is not what was built. He also said the developer carries the ultimate responsibility toward buyers and tenants, and that helping those affected is the main focus.
The Amager Fælled development has been contested for years. The citizens’ group Amager Fælleds Venner has campaigned against the project and for preserving nature on the common. Construction was paused in 2021 and 2022 while the impact on the protected great crested newt was examined.
Steenstrup rejects any link between those pauses and the construction faults. As noted by him, the situation stems from a contractor bankruptcy, which he described as among the worst events that can hit a building project.
Fælledby is planned as 20 apartment buildings with more than 2,000 homes, housing over 5,000 people. The district is expected to be completed in 2032. Scandi Byg was not involved in any other buildings in the area, and the timetable for the remaining projects is unchanged.
Copenhagen Lord Mayor Sisse Marie Welling of SF was not available for an interview. In a written response from her press office, she called it a regrettable development at a time when the city badly needs housing. She added that the case is a matter between a private company and a private developer.
The 172 homes were close to completion before the faults were identified. For buyers looking at how to buy an apartment in Copenhagen, the affected units will not be handed over as planned.
