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Nykredit Headquarters

Copenhagen/ Denmark

Size/ 24,000 m²
Competition/ 1998, 1st prize in restricted international competition
Status/ Completed in 2001
Client/ Nykredit
Landscape architect/ GHB Landscape
Engineer/ Carl Bro
Interior design/ shldesign
Awards/ 2002, FX International Interior Design Award in the category Best Office Building/ 2001, The Architecture Prize of the Municipality of Copenhagen

The design for the headquarters of Nykredit, one of Denmark’s leading mortgage banks, is conceived as a transparent cube, providing clear visual connections with Copenhagen harbour. The ten-storey glass structure is one of the city's largest office buildings featuring a dramatic atrium flooded with natural light and linking to all levels. Despite its vast glass façades, thermal load is reduced by using the water from the nearby harbour to cool the building, whilst the double layer façade is designed with sections that can be opened for natural ventilation.

The entrance level houses a reception area and an auditorium. A staircase leads up to the atrium where suspended meeting rooms, glass elevators, staircases, balconies and walkways create a lively working environment; three cantilevered glazed meeting rooms are suspended from the third and fifth floors.

Suspended – almost floating – “meeting boxes” sided with dark wenge wood create dynamics in the bright atrium, accentuating the meeting room as an important common function.

This is a highly functional space but it is also continually dynamic, offering an impressive breadth of activity and atmosphere.

Several internationally recognised artists have contributed to the decoration of the building. Olav Christopher Jenssen created a 30 metre-long mural, while a giant bronze sculpture by sculptor Per Kirkeby stands ‘centre stage’ in the atrium. Kirkeby also designed the adjacent plaza, enlivened by 20 bronze sculptures.

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