Trollbeads House

Copenhagen, Denmark

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Trollbeads House

Copenhagen, Denmark

Firm

BBP Arkitekter

Type

Residential › Apartment
Commercial › Office
Industrial › Warehouse

YEAR

2013

Photos

BBP Arkitekter (9), Jens Markus Lindhe (8), Jack E. Madsen III Architectural Photography (4)

BBP Arkitekter have converted an office building dating from 1964 in the center of Copenhagen into the new headquarters for the Danish jewelry firm Trollbeads, which is known for its glass and gold beads. It is a high-security building, organized like the old Venetian merchant houses, with goods loaded safely at the ground floor, stock and offices above, and, at the highest level, a residence for the owner with a roof terrace.

The challenge was to make a building that fits its type as a curtain wall building while at the same time relating to the historic houses on either side. How do you combine a modern glass house with an 18th-century townhouse?

The original curtain wall was removed, the existing concrete structure stripped and extended eight feet toward the street, and a new glass and brass skin covers the façade, the roof, and a small courtyard at the back.

The building consists of two party walls that have been raised and reshaped to follow the line of the neighboring mansard roof. As is typical for visible party walls in the city, the exposed wall has a different logic than the façade, with small, round windows placed in a random pattern. Between the two rounded party walls, a glass skin is stretched to cover the roof and façade. On the outside, a brass curtain is hung, making a kind of inverted curtain wall. The rounded transition from façade to roof (instead of a roof cornice) makes the building seem lower than it is in relation to the yellow house. The brass curtain has three functions:
1. Every morning, half of the curtain opens so the building emulates the historic houses next to it with repeating windows in a massive wall.
2. After working hours, the curtain closes automatically, and the building is transformed into a burglarproof vault.
3. After dark, a dim light turns on inside, revealing a modern glass house behind a veil of translucent brass.

The building’s windows are fixed, but behind each of the “masonry” pillars is a glass door that can be opened for ventilation.

The typical 1960s office building has been transformed into a golden jewelry box that becomes a glass chest at night.

Cornices
The brass curtain is lifted permanently at the entrance, forming a canopy that aligns with the lowest cornice on the gray house next door. At the third floor, the brass curtain is folded down, in line with the roof cornice of the yellow house.

Hinges
When the curtain is closed, the only visible difference between its fixed and movable parts is the hinge.

Pattern
The pattern that is carved into the brass curtain takes its inspiration from a hedge of thorns guarding a treasure and was developed by textile designer Lene Toni Kjeld together with architect Ebbe Wæhrens.