LIVE IN DANISH DESIGN

Design Guest House The Darling celebrates Danish design and art. Meet Jens Løkke and Uffe Buchard, who recently opened a small guest house in the heart of Copenhagen, for now with just one bedroom and access to a whole universe of furniture classics and art.

Copenhagen’s copper roofs on rainy days... This poetic vision inspired one of the wall colours, just going to show that nothing is random in one of the world’s smallest hotels, or guest house, as the owners prefer to call it. Mainly because it has only one bedroom, although guests are treated to many square metres of exquisite Danish design. With a view of Copenhagen’s main shopping street, Strøget, and the Church of the Holy Spirit, The Darling Design Guest House could not be more centrally located, and to top it all, the house brims with local history. As with most old buildings whose foundation dates back to the 15th century and some other parts back to the 1720s, all the angles are crooked. The uneven floors, walls and windows triumph over the eye’s natural urge to find straight lines, as the pictures taken for this feature illustrate. The charming rooms with panels, wooden floors and stucco have been renovated with new wallpaper and bespoke colours in a relatively short period of time. We meet Jens Løkke and Uffe Buchard in the final days before everything is ready. They founded Darling Creative Studio in 2014, which does projects for the fashion and design industry. From fashion events to commercial features. The company moved to new premises in the building, but from the old one emerged a dream, realised at last in 2017. Jens Løkke and Uffe Buchard’s vision is to create a place that celebrates Danish design and offers an opportunity to rent the space and experience Danish furniture classics and new Danish art up close. A place the quality-conscious tourist can visit for an utterly unique experience. Not by way of room service and other conventional amenities, but with a simultaneously homey and exclusive feel in focus. They purposely call the place a guest house and not a hotel. And if any item thrills you enough to want to buy it, go right ahead, because everything is for sale. Eventually, they hope to acquire another unit in the house, which they could turn into a junior suite: Jens Løkke says:

– We both flirted with the hotel industry at the beginning of our careers. I worked at both D’angleterre and hotels in London, and Uffe used to work at a seaside hotel in southern England. We simply have a passion for hotels and, naturally enough, the wonderful experiences they offer. We have now converted the sum of our experiences into this guest house. Uffe Buchard adds: – Where can someone visiting from abroad experience Danish design? And here I mean come in close contact with a design heritage so coveted worldwide. We have picked special editions of the furniture classics with fabrics that have a bit of edge.

The attention to detail is staggering – from the special tea made in collaboration with Sing Tehus to a signature scent and the four sets of Royal Copenhagen tableware from which the guest can choose. The roughly 100-m2 flat features three en-suite living rooms, where you can have meetings, private dinners or simply experience Danish cosiness. The space also has a kitchen, a bathroom and a small bedroom.

– It seems bold to open a hotel at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc?

– Indeed, the timing might not be the greatest, but we still hope to be able to make a difference, says Uffe Buchard. Danish art takes centre stage here, with works by both recognised artists and shooting stars.

– We’ve hung the artwork in large groups inspired by the walls in our own homes, which have hardly an inch left of space to hang new art. The guest must have a real experience, something only possible if you go for some more absurd and therefore challenging works of art once in a while.

IT LOOKS LIKE A HOME whose owners have gone crazy with Danish design – indeed, a true cornucopia of Danish design meets the guests at The Darling. The wall colours have been developed in collaboration with File Under Pop, and the green shade in the dining room has been inspired by Copenhagen’s copper roofs on rainy days. PH Septima is a pendant of mouth-blown glass recently launched by Louis Poulsen. Poul Kjaerholm’s dining table can be extended and is surrounded by chairs by Poul Kjaerholm and Børge Mogensen. THE VASES on the classic Poul Kjaerholm table from Frits Hansen are created by Arne Bang and Tage Andersen.

THE LIVING ROOM features furniture classics by Finn Juhl, Børge Mogensen and Poul Kjaerholm. The art is offset against a brown wall and includes names like Erik A. Frandsen, Sophie Klerk and Malling Mortensen. Jørgen Haugen Sørensen’s sculpture ‘Den Overflødige’ (The Redundant One) is placed in the corner on a table by Jakob Egebjerg. All the rugs are from Massimo. The Christiansborg chandelier is by Vilhelm Lauritzen for Louis Poulsen. JENS LØKKE AND UFFE BUCHARD have a passion for hotels and are now opening the doors to their own vision of how Danish design should be experienced. POUL HENNINGSEN’S amber table lamp stands in the beautiful company of vases by Arne Bang and Pettersen & Hein.

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HERE WE SEE the three en-suite living rooms, which are divided into work space, dining room and living room, and the slanting walls, floors and ceilings become immediately apparent. The armchair The Egg was intended to showcase a flagship of Danish design – Uffe Buchard is considering changing the upholstery to blue so the chair can better stand out against the wall colour. The yellow painting is by Peter Bonde. The coffee table is a find from Klassik, and the fur-coated stool is from Fredericia. Michael Anastasiades has designed the circular speaker from Bang & Olufsen. THE STRIKING BAR CABINET is designed by Kurt Østervig and was bought at Klassik. Above it hangs artwork by Anders Scrmn Meisner and next to it a metal artwork by August Hugo.

THE PHOTO ART by Trine Søndergaard evokes an almost Hammershøi ambience in the living room. The skirting is new and was chosen to divide up the walls – and to magnify the warm, inviting atmosphere. THE WORK SPACE welcomes you with open arms to sit on the double chaise longue by Børge Mogensen for Carl Hansen & Søn. TO CREATE a relaxed and cosy atmosphere, they have selected an exclusive assortment of dining chairs by Børge Mogensen and Poul Kjaerholm. The vase on the dining table is by Tage Andersen. To the left is a sculpture by Amalie Jakobsen.

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THE OAK KITCHEN is designed by Københavns Møbelsnedkeri. On the kitchen tabletop stands an elegant silver pitcher by Henning Koppel for Georg Jensen and the Cylinda Linie series by Arne Jacobsen for Stelton. The small pendants are by PH for Louis Poulsen. AS A GUEST you can choose between four different types of Royal Copenhagen tableware, from Hav to Blue Fluted and White Fluted Half Lace. THE BEAUTIFUL PIGEON BLUE underpins the kitchen design and provides an excellent backdrop for the art installation. The artworks are by Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, Katrine Raben Davidsen and Sophie Klerk.

THE YELLOW TILES from File Under Pop spread some sunshine in the small bathroom, whose vanity was made by Københavns Møbelsnedkeri and has a burnished brass tap unit from Toni Copenhagen. On the sink stands a sculpture by Morten Plesner. The Darling collaborates with Rudolph Care on soaps and creams, and the towels are designed in collaboration with Aiayu. THE BEDROOM faces the peaceful Church of the Holy Spirit and the bed takes up almost the entire space. The bed is from Dux and the linen is from Aiayu. Above the bed hang artworks by Peter Bonde.