Most Copenhagen residents, if they've visited a harborside area called Papirøen, went over the summer to snack on street food and eat outide along the quai overlooking the historic city center. At present, it's a bit out of the way—the easiest route is up Prinsessegade, past the independent commune Christiania—but it's adjacent to the Royal Danish Playhouse, which will connect to the city center once the three long-awaited inner harbor pedestrian bridges are complete.

The city is touting Papirøen (called "Paper Island" because of its former use as a paper storage facility for Copenhagen's daily newspaper) as an up-and-coming warehouse district ripe for conversion into art and fabrication spaces. In selecting a historic warehouse to convert into its showroom, four-year-old furniture company &Tradition, which reissues never-produced potential classics and commissions new pieces from contemporary Danish talent, placed a bet that the area would soon become a destination. &Tradition tapped Norm Architects, a local Copenhagen firm who was also responsible for the relook of Menu, to design the interior of the space. Nicknamed "The Village," the showroom is a series of small, discrete white boxes that resemble a minimalist art installation à la Donald Judd. Cut corners and sliced sightlines reveal peeks into restrained interiors highlighting the new pieces in &Tradition's catalog, from marble lights designed by London-based Studio Vit to a new series of flatweave rugs by graphic design firm All The Way to Paris.

Trangravsvej 24, Papirøen, DK–1436 Copenhagen, Denmark

Appears In

Danish Design in Copenhagen Micro-Neighborhood Paper Island