Factory setting

A plant-filled atrium turns an industrial building in Copenhagen into a tranquil home.

All renowned Danish photographer Peter Krasilnikoff wanted was to live in a home with an integrated green space. Finding one turned out to be easier said than done in bustling Copenhagen, until he discovered a former pencil factory at the end of a street in the harbour district of Islands Brygge, teamed up with the architects at Studio David Thulstrup and got started on its transformation.

Having decided to conserve three of the original brick walls of the old garage on the narrow site, the architects were met with the challenge of how to provide the three-storey building with enough light. The answer ticked all the boxes for Peter: a glass-walled atrium in the middle of the house that floods all three floors with the sun’s rays.

The entire home came to be planned around this central green space, which is visible

from all floors and an enchanting oasis filled with grasses, ferns, plants and a tall elm tree, all inspired by Scandinavian woodlands. Its impact is immediate. The moment you walk in the front door, you feel wrapped in a soft, zen-like ambience, a world away from the noisy city.

Each floor of the home corresponds to a specific function. Daily living takes place on the ground floor, which houses an openplan kitchen, dining and living space and is decorated with a modern and tactile material palette that includes concrete, blackened steel and raw bricks. A custom-made perforatedsteel staircase leads up one side of the glass atrium to the first floor, where the master bedroom and ensuite bathroom are located. On the second floor is a small studio with an adjoining roof garden and a gorgeous view of

the greenery growing up through the atrium.

A pleasing sense of continuity exists between the floors, the neutral tones and minimalist shapes throughout the house creating a quiet sense of order in the industrial building. It isn’t filled to the brim with furniture and objects – instead, there’s a carefully curated selection of items chosen in collaboration with architect David Thulstrup, many of them custom-made by his studio. Other pieces are iconic favourites, such as the swivel-based Eames chair in the office and a 360° drawer unit by Konstantin Grcic for Magis.

The outside of the building is as striking as the inside, clad in vertical strips of Brazilian hardwood that will gradually weather to a pale silvery grey, lending weight to the naturalness that pervades the entire home.

ABOVE Spot the office chair by Eames for Vitra on the left. BELOW LEFT The view from the entry to the kitchen. BELOW RIGHT A 637 Utrecht armchair upholstered in a vibrant orange Kvadrat textile sits beneath a black and white portrait of Mick Jagger by...

ABOVE The ivy climbing the Brazilian hardwood exterior of the home hints at the leafiness that lies inside. The dark front door leads directly into the double-height kitchen. BELOW Inside, a selection of pans and masks collected by Peter on his world...

ABOVE LEFT The master bedroom combines pale oak with complementary soft furnishings. The shiny brass Slit table is by Hay. ABOVE RIGHT Agglotech terrazzo in a calming grey lines the walls in the bathroom, which, like the kitchen, features tapware by...