KAB, Copenhagen’s largest housing association, has a new headquarters space that combines the administrative with the creative, courtesy of Henning Larsen. The 79,000-sf headquarters building is located at the axis of two major streets in Copenhagen, between one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods and one of its newest.
The building features a sturdy, red-brick exterior and forgoes a traditional front and back. Instead, it is a pentagonal shape that opens to the city on all sides. Atop the headquarters building is a green roof garden with spaces for visitors and employees to gather and take a break.
The new KAB headquarters was designed to be representative of Denmark’s approach to collectivism, welfare, and the home itself. The building design takes traditional elements of the home, such as the living room, the stairs, the garden, and the kitchen, and applies them to the workplace. Things begin very office-like on the ground floor with an open and airy reception desk flanked by a plant-filled seating area, behind which the office canteen is nestled.
Almost everything in the atrium is clad in wood, creating a scent and texture not often associated with the workplace. The slender stairs cut back and forth across the middle of the atrium, descending on large community kitchens on each floor.
"The stairs are a play on the classic stairwell of residential buildings, which is typically the place you meet your neighbor,” said Troels Dam Madsen, Associate Design Director at Henning Larsen, in a release. “In the KAB House, we added layers of visibility, texture, and beauty to what is usually a very practical space.”
The western edge of the atrium is a wall of windows. Behind these windows are the main meeting rooms, which are outfitted to resemble rooms in a house. This area marks the border between the private workplaces for KAB and the space that is accessible to the public.
The new building is a gathering place for 44 housing organizations and provides the framework for KAB’s 400 employees’ daily work. KAB moved into the building in June 2021.
Related Stories
Office Buildings | May 20, 2024
10 spaces that are no longer optional to create a great workplace
Amenities are no longer optional. The new role of the office is not only a place to get work done, but to provide a mix of work experiences for employees.
Office Buildings | May 16, 2024
New Gensler report calls for workplace design that responds to employees’ ‘human emotions’
High performing offices are linked to how well they leverage amenities.
Adaptive Reuse | May 9, 2024
Hotels now account for over one-third of adaptive reuse projects
For the first time ever, hotel to apartment conversion projects have overtaken office-to-residential conversions.
Biophilic Design | May 6, 2024
The benefits of biophilic design in the built environment
Biophilic design in the built environment supports the health and wellbeing of individuals, as they spend most of their time indoors.
Retail Centers | May 3, 2024
Outside Las Vegas, two unused office buildings will be turned into an open-air retail development
In Henderson, Nev., a city roughly 15 miles southeast of Las Vegas, 100,000 sf of unused office space will be turned into an open-air retail development called The Cliff. The $30 million adaptive reuse development will convert the site’s two office buildings into a destination for retail stores, chef-driven restaurants, and community entertainment.
Mixed-Use | Apr 23, 2024
A sports entertainment district is approved for downtown Orlando
This $500 million mixed-use development will take up nearly nine blocks.
AEC Innovators | Apr 15, 2024
3 ways the most innovative companies work differently
Gensler’s pre-pandemic workplace research reinforced that great workplace design drives creativity and innovation. Using six performance indicators, we're able to view workers’ perceptions of the quality of innovation, creativity, and leadership in an employee’s organization.
Laboratories | Apr 15, 2024
HGA unveils plans to transform an abandoned rock quarry into a new research and innovation campus
In the coastal town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., an abandoned rock quarry will be transformed into a new research and innovation campus designed by HGA. The campus will reuse and upcycle the granite left onsite. The project for Cell Signaling Technology (CST), a life sciences technology company, will turn an environmentally depleted site into a net-zero laboratory campus, with building electrification and onsite renewables.
Mixed-Use | Apr 4, 2024
Sustainable mixed-use districts: Crafting urban communities
As a part of the revitalization of a Seattle neighborhood, Graphite Design Group designed a sustainable mixed-use community that exemplifies resource conversation, transportation synergies, and long-term flexibility.
Office Buildings | Apr 2, 2024
SOM designs pleated façade for Star River Headquarters for optimal daylighting and views
In Guangzhou, China, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has designed the recently completed Star River Headquarters to minimize embodied carbon, reduce energy consumption, and create a healthy work environment. The 48-story tower is located in the business district on Guangzhou’s Pazhou Island.
