On Niels Brocks Gade 1 in Copenhagen stands a building that has drawn the attention of admiring gazes for generations. The magnificent original building was designed in 1903 for an insurance company, and was later home to the Royal Danish Academy of Music. After the building had been vacant for an extended period, the Nobis Hotel Copenhagen has now moved in.

We have redesigned the interior of the hotel with a light touch, carefully preserving the neoclassicism of the original building—the affluent elegance, the spaciousness, and the beautiful detailing. At the same time, the updated interior is carried by the clean design and playful flourishes of some new furniture and colors. Intense blue-green tones have been incorporated into the seventy-seven guest rooms, with additions to the original décor clearly articulated as freestanding objects. The materials are sourced directly from nature: marble, wood, leather, and wool.

Much of the interiors have been custom designed to realize Nobis’s mission of providing a warm and relaxed hotel environment. The guest rooms feature custom-designed steel-framed beds combined with wardrobes, stools, benches, and desks made from wood and natural leather. Here the art that usually hangs on the walls lies instead on the floors, incorporated into the expressive woolen rugs found on every level. The bathrooms have freestanding vanity cabinets with coordinating mirrors. And in the lobby the guests are met by a reception desk of cast concrete, a reference to the fact that the original building was one of the first to be constructed of the material. From the lobby, the monumental staircase has been extended downward, leading to the restaurant. The courtyard wing is an addition from the 1960s that is now clad in copper sheeting and glass, the irregular pattern varying in both length and width in an homage to Le Cobusier’s convent La Tourette.