From transformer station to luxury hotel with awardwinning architecture.
In the middle of Copenhagen lies a transformed industrial-historical gem. The building was built in the years 1962-63 by the City Architect’s Directorate and architect Hans Chr. Hansen and, until 2013, lived an anonymous life as the city’s transformer station, until the site was transformed into a hotel and restaurant by Dansk Ejendoms Management in collaboration with Brøchner Hotels in 2016-2018.
The transformation is prioritized so that strong features of the building’s past are retained in a well-functioning hotel. The unique physical setting should tell relevant and exciting stories about this place in the city to the delight of visitors to the house and to the bypassers in the street.
The building was originally erected with a refined and unique facade facing the street in preserved bronze slats.
In the building, the former assembly room – now the hotel lobby – is an impressive reminder of the building’s functional past and architectural historical direction, brutalism – an international flow in modernist architecture where construction and materials were proudly displayed raw and unveiled. The high door portions, room proportions, raw in-situ cast concrete walls and other large scale remains of an urban industrial culture, have been preserved.
In the upper part of the building, high quality rooms are situated with wide variation in decor. Where possible, raw concrete walls have been preserved and through the windows the daylight is filtered between the facade’s bronze slats.
In the backyard, the building is covered with a light and undulating metal facade. Here, between old brick facades and murals and behind the vibrant city life of Copenhagen, is a quiet, green pocket. Here visitors can relax when their feet are tired after a day in the capital of Denmark.
The transformation of the old transformer station has been a comprehensive and challenging activity. The specialized building is not a yardstick. The good solutions have required extensive planning, financial prioritization, and patience from advisers and executives during the construction period.
