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.
![KAB interior stair](/sites/default/files/inline-images/KAB2.jpeg)
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.
![KAB exterior facade and windows](/sites/default/files/inline-images/KAB3.jpeg)
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.”
![KAB interior stair](/sites/default/files/inline-images/KAB5.jpeg)
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
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Daylighting | Aug 18, 2022
Lisa Heschong on 'Thermal and Visual Delight in Architecture'
Lisa Heschong, FIES, discusses her books, "Thermal Delight in Architecture" and "Visual Delight in Architecture," with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.
| Aug 17, 2022
IBM’s former office buildings in Boca Raton turn into a modern tech campus
Built in 1968, the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC), at 1.7 million square feet, is the largest office campus in Florida.
| Aug 9, 2022
Work-from-home trend could result in $500 billion of lost value in office real estate
Researchers find major changes in lease revenues, office occupancy, lease renewal rates.
Codes and Standards | Jul 22, 2022
Office developers aim for zero carbon without offsets
As companies reassess their office needs in the wake of the pandemic, a new arms race to deliver net zero carbon space without the need for offsets is taking place in London, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Office Buildings | Jul 19, 2022
Austin adaptive reuse project transforms warehouse site into indoor-outdoor creative office building
Fifth and Tillery, an adaptive reuse project, has revitalized a post-industrial site in East Austin, Texas.
Office Buildings | Jul 12, 2022
Miami office tower nears completion, topping off at 55 stories
In Miami, construction of OKO Group and Cain International’s 830 Brickell office tower is nearing completion.
AEC Business Innovation | Jun 15, 2022
Cognitive health takes center stage in the AEC industry
Two prominent architecture firms are looking to build on the industry’s knowledge base on design’s impact on building occupant health and performance with new research efforts.
Sustainable Design and Construction | Jun 14, 2022
For its new office, a farm in California considers four sustainable design options, driven by data
The architect used cove.tool’s performance measurement software to make its case.
Office Buildings | Jun 13, 2022
San Antonio’s electric utility HQ to transform into a modern office building
In San Antonio, Tex., the former headquarters of CPS Energy, the city’s electric utility, is slated to transform into 100,000 square feet of office and retail space on San Antonio’s famed River Walk.