Building A-House in Islands Brygge : the 3 lives of the building and its cultural splits

Architect: Holgaard Arkitekter Copenhagen
Built in 1963, refurbishment and conversion in 2010

Source: www.dezeen.com

On Islands Brygge docks, beside the former silos, the building A-House is an inheritance of the industrial past of the district. However, the building looks brand new. What an impressive refurbishment! Next year, the building is going to celebrate its 50 years anniversary and has already been through three different lives. 

Built in the 60's, it housed workers rooms from Soybean Cake Factory next door and some trade unions of workers.

After that, it was empty during many years and occupied by artists who could find plenty of space to develop their creative ideas. 

 

From now on, the A-House is composed of luxury apartments rented out by Stay Copenhagen which is offering hotel services. The apartments are appreciated by the fashion photographers to host their shootings thanks to the wide dimensions of the rooms. At the moment, young models taking part in the reality TV program Topmodel Drømmer broadcast on Kanal 4 live in A-House. The building definitely does the splits between the former worker trade unions and the glitter of fashion!

 

The 24 000 square meter of the building is now displaying a modern design. Nevertheless, the architect Holgaard had not eliminate all the characteristics of the former industrial usage inside the apartments. By the way, despite construction work, the building is still named “A” due to it's shape.

Indeed, the walls and the ceilings are in raw concrete with still some former marks drawn on them. The apartment are laid out like a loft and furnished with black and white design furniture from HAY company. The plate glass windows can be wide opened and half of the apartments offers a full view over the canal. 

The front has been removed and replaced with a glass and bronze aluminum facade which shine with different shades of orange during the sunset.

The ground floor is occupied by shops and restaurants, which make the district more lively. Whereas the top floor is housing a bar linked to a wide terrace with a stunning view over the urban and natural Copenhagen's landscape.