Danish design label Vipp is today widely known for its sleek, modular kitchens and well crafted furniture, but it had humble beginnings: In 1933, Holger Nielsen sold the car he’d won in a lottery at the local soccer stadium and invested the money in a metal press. Six years later, when his wife requested a trash can, he built her the now-classic Vipp pedal bin.

Sixty years later, Nielsen’s daughter, Jette Egelund, took over the business —her children, Kasper and Sofie, serve as Vipp’s CEO and concept director, respectively. Keeping things in the family has seemingly been integral to the brand’s success. Fittingly, a stone’s throw away from the company headquarters on Islands Brygge, on the northwestern tip of Cophenhagen’s Amager island, is the home of Jette and her husband, acclaimed conductor Mogens Dahl.

Comprising approximately 3,660 square feet across two top floors of the former Viking Pencil Factory, the couple’s lofty rooftop residence renovation was completed in 2019. Having previously lived just one floor down, they had an intimate familiarity with the building that helped them plan their ideal layout, arranging each space according to the position of the sun.

“We knew wanted to move the kitchen from one corner to another,” Jette explains. “I think we’ve now found the optimal way of bringing the light into the house.”

Danish architecture practice Arcgency led the structural elements of the project, which involved reworking the ground floor into an open-plan living area, plus the construction of a first floor on top of the existing flat roof. This connects to a generous, 3,445-square-foot roof terrace and conservatory complete with a modular Vipp kitchen ready to cater to intimate dinners among guests or more elaborate company events backdropped by resplendent sunsets and the city’s picturesque skyline.

Preserving elements of the building’s industrial heritage was central to the renovation. The elevator, front door, and industrial beams are all original, supplemented with glass sliding doors that provide a sense of intimacy while allowing light and air to circulate.

Conceptualizing the residence’s atmosphere—and incorporating the couple’s extensive collection of art, furniture, and artifacts—was the domain of interior designer Julie Mølsgaard, a close collaborator of Vipp who has led various elements of its creative direction over the past year.

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After Jette and Mogens had settled into their new home, Mølsgaard brought a fresh perspective to their existing assemblage of furnishings and decor. In addition, she designed custom elements such as gridded, built-in shelving to display Jette’s vast ceramic collection, acquired over the years through auctions and travels. “Julie came with fresh eyes and said, ‘Could we do this or this?’” Jette explains. “I wouldn’t have gotten to her ideas myself.”

The pair’s prized collection of modern and contemporary art by the likes of artists such as Birkemose, Jørgen Nash, and Rita Kern Larsen—not to mention furniture pieces by Danish designers including Erik Jørgensen and Hans Wegner—complete the home. “I will forever be fascinated by beautiful things, whether a cozy vase or a sculpture,” says Jette.

All throughout the house, the full extent of Vipp’s furniture range comes to the fore—from the elegant kitchen to the Chimney Sofa and streamlined, toffee-colored swivel office chair. With the headquarters a mere five-minute walk away, Vipp’s design team often pops by with a prototype to test it out in situ.

“To test our new products in real life, we put it into our home to see how it fits,” Jette notes, “and to see how it works not only when it’s in process, but when it’s finished—do we like the fabric and the color? What about the surface? It goes forward and backward.” One design that passed the in-situ test was a resized version of the Vipp Cabin dining table made from natural oak by Mølsgaard.

When asked about her favorite place in the residence, Jette names the roof terrace and its garden full of soft grasses. Planned pre-pandemic, when Jette was often away on travels for long periods of time, it needed to be as self-sustaining as possible. Accordingly, hardwearing plants, supported by an in-built watering system, set the tone. However, having spent much more time in her space than expected over the past year, Jette has overseen its evolution into a more abundant, floral landscape.

Between more time spent with their grandchildren and a renewed appreciation for Mølsgaard’s curatorial eye, Jette and Mogens have contentedly settled in to gentle rhythms of life atop the old pencil factory, largely determined by the way light shifts throughout the day. “We follow the sun,” Jette says, “just like plants. They move towards the light, and we do, too.”

Related Reading:

Vipp’s Newest High-Design Hotel Outpost Is in a Water-Pumping Station

An Experimental New Hotel Includes a Steel Prefab and a Copenhagen Loft

Project Credits:

Architect: Arcgency / @arcgency

Interior Design: Julie Mølsgaard

Landscape Design: Pia Ingemann Øigaard

Millworker: Egil Frederikson

Lighting Design: Anker & Co

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Vipp Owner Jette Egelund’s Moody Loft in Copenhagen Crowns a Former Pencil Factory