THE COPPER PASSAGE

Inside a former Copenhagen warehouse, freestanding copper volumes create a new architectural landscape without erasing the building’s industrial past.

Located within Copenhagen’s historic harbour district, The Copper Passage transforms a nineteenth-century warehouse into a mixed creative workplace, gallery and event space. Rather than dividing the existing structure with conventional walls, Feld & Havn Studio inserted a series of independent architectural volumes within the original brick shell. Clad in varying finishes of patinated copper, these structures contain meeting rooms, studios, private workspaces and service areas. A continuous passage moves between the new volumes, creating shifting views of aged brick walls, exposed timber roof structures and the building’s original industrial windows. Bridges and staircases connect upper-level workspaces without touching significant sections of the historic masonry. The contrast between old and new remains intentionally visible. Existing brickwork was cleaned but left imperfect, while damaged timber was repaired rather than replaced. New interventions use copper, blackened steel and glass, allowing each period of construction to remain clearly legible. At the centre of the warehouse, the largest copper volume contains a double-height gallery. Large pivoting panels allow the space to expand into the surrounding passage for exhibitions and events. Environmental improvements are integrated within the new structures. Individual volumes can be heated or cooled independently, reducing the need to condition the entire warehouse. Operable rooflights support natural ventilation during warmer months. The Copper Passage approaches adaptive reuse as an act of addition rather than correction—introducing a new architectural layer while allowing the history, scale and imperfections of the original warehouse to remain present.