Calmer Waters

It’s hard to escape water in Copenhagen, but, set upon a series of islands, the neighbourhood of Holmen is especially well connected to the wet stuff.  Until the 1990s it was the Danish navy’s primary base, which is why you’ll find plenty of residual naval architecture here, including a former torpedo boat workshop that’s now a striking residential block. Norm Architects recently brought tranquillity and harmony to one of the apartments here on the canal’s edge, bringing the industrial and the natural together.

The architects have incorporated the building’s original steel structure into the design, with anthracite-coloured beams on show in the double-height kitchen and living areas. Industrial-inspired design is a thread that runs through the apartment: Frama’s Rivet multi-level side table, made from aluminium, sits in the living area, while Norm has reconfigured the staircase with steel stringers and railings.

Norm’s trademark Japan-meets-Scandinavian aesthetic is in full effect here. “We’ve worked to embrace the purity of clean lines rooted in both Scandinavian and Japanese traditions alike,” says Norm’s Peter Eland. “Additionally, natural materials play a pivotal role, imbuing each space with a sense of timelessness and grounding.” This includes tactile oak cabinetry in the kitchen, topped by a stone worktop and upstand in softly neutral stone. Monolithic blocks of stone are a recurring motif: as plinths for sculpture, bedside tables and the integrated bathroom basins, for example.

The Japanese aesthetic also comes through strongly in the bathroom, where a shoji screen gently filters the light, creating a serene atmosphere. Eland says that it “not only enhances the bathroom’s aesthetic with its minimalist elegance but also fosters a sense of calm and relaxation.” Floor-to ceiling semi-sheer curtains in the living areas do the same job, softening the light that bounces up from the canal below.

Around the dining table, Brdr. Kruger’s Arv chairs are a nod to classic Danish modernism, and a little reference to the neighbourhood’s most recognisable restaurant: they were originally designed for Noma, now based in Holmen, too.

Art and sculpture have been carefully chosen to complement the aesthetic, with tactile, organically shaped sculpture and textile art. Everyday objects are also elevated to the status of art thanks to the care that Norm has taken over integrated furniture designed for display, including floating oak shelving and slatted oak panels that partially cover stone shelving.

Norm’s work here embraces the building’s industrial past, but leaves plenty of room for the natural, as well as the architects’ wider, and highly refined, vision of domesticity. Once, this place was all about speed and thrust: now, it’s all about slowing down.