CPH House is realized by the Danish brothers Peter Bach and Palle Bach via their real estate and construction companies. Their companies has assets and activities both in Greenland and Denmark.
The CPH house is designed in partnership between SPOL Architects and SGBA, which has developed several projects in Denmark and internationally.
The design was inspired by a mutual admiration for the west-coast case-study houses. The clients desire for a design integrated with and in the nature. A desire for a house from which they could watch the grassing deers and live in the middle of the tree tops of the old majestic beech trees, growing on the steep south facing hill towards the lake.
The development house started out with an intense design process with eight contesting designs that was narrowed down to one. Through a creative an open design process the client became an active part in developing the design.
CPH House sits on a uniquely beautiful site between lakes and forests. The house was designed to preserve the view to the landscape and lake, be hovering above for views, create framework for separate yet communal lives.
The house is conceived as three separate volumes each defining distinct worlds within them. By their superposition their define a fourth space, the void in-between that becomes the communal space for shared living. Defined by the absence of structure, the void becomes a continuation of the landscape into the house. By being carved into the landscape below and as a vertigo into the top box, the void becomes the hearth of the building, a three dimensional space that connects all parts of the house.
Each of the three volumes are specifically related to the landscape, the children's rooms directly into the landscape, the master bed room elevated for morning views of the grassing deers, and the living hovering above, in between the tops of the old beech trees. It offers panoramic views of the lake and forest and with a grand roof terrace. The top box is cantilevering of from four columns, completely liberating the space below. Creating a house integrated in and with the landscape.
Holte is the northern most city in greater Copenhagen and consist primarily of villa neighborhoods. The CpH house is situated in the Dronninggård´s area. The region was originally part of the land belonging to the Næsse Castle built by the Dutch merchant Frédéric de Coninck in the 18th century. In the 1895 the land belonging to the castle was divided to private properties. The area soon became the favorite location for summer residences for the Copenhagen bourgeoisie who spent their summers there, wanting to escape the dense and at the time highly polluted City of Copenhagen.
In the middel ages the area consisted of 5 farms around a village called Tange, which can be seen in Valdemar Atterdags Jordebog from 1370.
In the 1500s the area was acquired by the Crown and consisted of 2 farms with agriculture and forestry. The farms were burned during the wars between Denmark and Sweden in 1558-1660.
In 1661 the king constructed a farm for the agricultural administration in the royal lands north of Copenhagen. The farm was dedicated to the king's wife; Sofie Amalie; from which the name Dronninggårds Alle (Queensfarms Allé) stems. In the next 100 years, all farms under the Crown were administered from here. In connection with the land reform in the second half of 1700, the crown transferred the area and farms to independent farmers. Droningegården was later bought by the Dutch trader Frédéric de Coninck (1783-1822), who converted the then poorly kept Droningegård into a modern breeding farm with more than 100 cows, horses and something as unusual as a dairy. The buildings were situated on the narrow piece of land between todays Vejlesøvej and Furesøen. In addition to the significant park the property included more than 500 barrels of land with fields, swamps and meadows. However the refurbished Dronningegård was not enough for the big trader de Coninck who in 1782-3 expanded the property with the construction of the Næsset Castle. In 1811 de Coninck passed away and the castle was left to decay, which was further accelerated by the state bankruptcy in 1813.
In 1895 "AS Droninggård" was founded by an active trade and industrialist who bought the Næsseslottet with all its lands. From here, land plots were sold to various ground speculators, which again divided the area into large plots. The bourgeois of Copenhagen had a recently acquired a strong appetite for land parcels at a suitable distance from the city of Copenhagen on which they could construct summer getaways. Frédéric de Coninck's childhood friend Colonel Henry de Devon in 1786 describes the area:
"Who takes a stroll here will be exposed to a completely new scenery that is not less interesting than the previous. You will experince smiling views over the lake and its shores, the expansive views over Frederiksdal Castle and the splendid forests towards the village of Virum with its velded plains and hills. Further towards the property called Caningaarden with the tall pines surrounding it. Furesøen lake, which kisses the foot of the hill on which it is built, and the wide horizon that forms the backdrop of the beautiful landscapes over which one must be delighted in more than a thousand different ways by the forest and all the different that are found here. This makes make this an enchanting place."
It is in these enchanting surroundings that Skovmindevej is situated. An unspoiled natural habitat, protected by conservation plans, preserved waterways, conservation areas. CPH House is here, situated in the wake of proud architecture one of Denmark's most sought after residential areas.
Graduated as cand. Jur from Aarhus University, worked as a judge, lawyer and in-house-attorney in one of Denmarks largest corporations. Founder and Head of Board of directors in A/S PSE 14 and HP Byg ApS.
Palle is educated as a mechanic and has several years of experience with all types of construction from Norway, Denmark and Greenland. Palle is board member in A/S PSE 14 nr. 1197 and responsible for realizing Skovmindevej 15. Palle develops the construction of the buildings with the same meticulous attention to detail as was it a racing car.
Owner and creative director of the Danish design company Nordstjerne. Henriette founded Nordstjerne in 2011. Henriette personally designs all of the Nordstjerne products, she is greatly inspired by the rawness of the Scandinavian and Nordic landscapes and works to bring that unique feeling indoor with her simple and yet elegant designs.
Henriette is board member of the board for A/S.
Adam Kurdahl born in Copenhagen, is Founding Partner and Head of the Board of directors for SGBA Architects. Adam Kurdahl has realized several award winning projects like the Nedregate Culture District (Oslo City’s Architecture award) Clarion Hotel Trondheim (Choice of the Stars), V-House (Houens Fund’s Diploma for outstanding architecture).
Adam Kurdahl studied Architecture and Urbanism at Delft University, the Netherlands and at Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark from where he received his master’s degree. In 2000 Adam Kurdahl won the first prize in the in the “ArchiPrix International” for his thesis project. Kurdahl has taught at The Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen, Politecnico di Milano and Oslo School of Architecture.
Thank you to the hard working team of SGBA Architects, especially Natallia Shiroma, Eugenio Cardoso and Cristiano Gomes who have worked several late nights and long days to realize the CPH House.
Ivan Brodey is an American Architectural photographer educated in NYC and living in Oslo and Stockholm. Ivan has won numerous awards for his photography of buildings across Scandinavia, lastly for his photography of Holmenkollen Skijump by JDS Architects. Ivan has published books and individual exhibitions on urban conditions like the "Now for Night".
The realization of CPH House was greatly helped by the support of several great individuals and companies that has supported us throughout the process with knowledge and sponsorships. THANK YOU!
Thank you to SPARNORD and Charlotte Røhl for your fantastic financing, thank you to Ivan Brodey for the great Images, Thank you SGBA team, Thank you great Client, Thanks to Nordstjerne for critical design revisions, thank you to H + H (Martin Pedersen) for your early support, Thank you Benny Lillelund for getting us through to an energy efficient and green building, Thank you Palle Juhl for the speedy application process, Thank you to SkyFrame and Bernd Riehammer for the great product - Not a window - a view! Thank you Dinesen for the wonderful Heart Oak floors, Thank you Erasmus og Partnere for keeping the building afloat, Dornbracht for the great quality. Thank you Finn and Elevatorsmeden. Thanks to Fanq Crossmedia for making this page.
MARTIN PETERSEN, HEAD OF MARKETING AT H + H:
"The CPH House project has given H + H a unique opportunity to expose the H + H Termoblock ™, our most innovative and energy-optimized solution today - and in an amazing aesthetic framework.
At H + H, as part of our strategy, we have increased our efforts towards the architectural segment and the CPH House project, we have a fantastic project that will be the focal point for more stories in the coming couple of years targeted architects.
In addition, our collaboration, from the initial stage, has been open, flexible and not least inspiring."
The companies are family owned real-estate developers and contractors focusing on high quality real-estate opportunities. The companies have assets in Greenland and Copenhagen.
Nordstjerne designs home accessories which combines functionality with a hint of dekadence. We are greatly inspired by the rawness of the Scandinavian and Nordic landscapes and we wish to bring that unique feeling indoor with Nordstjerne’s simple and yet elegant items that can fit any interior.
When Henriette Bach, founder of Nordstjerne, back in 2012 as one of the first designers launched marble at Danish interior fairs, customers were attracted to the smooth and elegant material – but didn’t really dare to order it. That all soon changed and today Nordstjerne is known to be a pioneer in marble and has spread its business worldwide to more than 22 countries around the world.
We create projects with conceptual clarity.
We turn complexity into assets and catalysts for creativity, to find often surprisingly simple answers resilient and strong enough to survive from imagination to completion.
We add value through design.
We search for the unexpected, to provide more for the same; to create space where none was requested, to dare to imagine a greater potential in the brief. Through an intelligent design process, we add economic and social value to every project.
Our cities thrive on diversity, our lives enriched by surprises. We aim for our projects to transcend building categories, create and take part in the city, be places to meet, rooms to cherish, occasions to celebrate; permanent spaces for an uncertain future. We work with all scales and programmes to continuously allow ourselves to think wider; bridging function, culture and environment.
SGBA is an international architectural office based in São Paulo, practicing in architecture and urbanism; from strategies to design.
From the vantage points of two urban extremities: São Paulo, the mother city of South America, Oslo, the ambitious youngster still searching for its identity; we cross the span in the ongoing urbanisation. Seemingly very different in location, climate, scale and wealth distribution, the similarities in the two countries economic, cultural and architectural foundation allow us to speak one architectural language.
Locally we are in the culture, at a distance we are able to be critical.
Through an inclusive and open process we empower our clients to make (the right) decisions.
Our method springs from a critical and curious design process with the aim to uncover the full potential of each brief. We are committed and engaged, working closely with our clients in developing unique solutions to each challenge, in advancing business plans into reality.
CLIENT Peter Bach / Palle Bach LOCATION Holte, Denmark SITE Steep nature site towards lake AREA Built area 500m2 YEAR Completion 2017 PROGRAM Private residence north of Copenhagen ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN SGBA ARCHITECTS TEAM Adam Kurdahl, Jens Noach, Eugenio Cardoso, Natallia Shiroma, Cristiano Gomes, Raissa Bahia, Joao Vieira Costa, Raphaela Erena, Davi Duwe, Julio Pessoa, Andre Sato, Marina Novaes INTERIOR SPOL + Nordstjerne APROVALS ARCHITECT Format Arkitekter, Palle Juhl Larsen ENERGY CONSULTANT Benny Lillelund STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Thomas Ellitsgaard, Erasmus & Partnere PHOTOGRAPHY Ivan Brodey - The Master! FINANCING SparNord, Charlotte Røhl MASTERBUILDERS Pjotr Bozek, Andrej Swiniarski, Wojciech Zarebski STEEL CONSTRUCTION Elevator Smeden, Finn Olsen WEB DESIGN FANQ Crossmedia MODELS SPOL
SPOL Architects
Fredensborgveien 24d
NO-0177 Oslo, Norway
+47 93 841 821
SGBA Arquitetos Rua Saturno 113, ap 91 01531 030 Sao Paulo +55 11 3083 1119
HP BYG
Skovmindevej 15
2840 Holte
+45 23 72 67 01