Nordea’s Danish Headquarters / Henning Larsen

Architects: Henning Larsen
Location: Ørestads Blvd. 21, 2300 København S, Denmark
Team: Landscape; SLA, Workspace; Signal, Engineering; COWI
Area: 46600.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Adam Mork

Partner Responsible From Henning Larsen: Søren Øllgaard
Design Responsible From Henning Larsen: Carsten Fischer
Project Manager From Henning Larsen: Debbi Hededam Thuesen
Sustainability Responsible From Henning Larsen: Anne Iversen
Facade Specialist From Henning Larsen: Steen Elsted Andersen
Team From Henning Larsen: Anders Park, Axel Bluhme, Charlotte Bigom, Charlotte Søderhamn Nielsen, Daniel Skaanstrøm Damm, David Mikkelsen, Gitte Edelgren, Hanne Winther Gottlieb, Jeja Jensen, Julian Chen, Martha Lewis, Martin Lindberg, Martin Weis Mortensen, Mette Landorph, Nanna Maria Menzel, Per Kræmmer, Stefan Ernst Jensen
Client: Nordea properties

Text description provided by the architects. Nordea is a prominent Nordic Bank. Built on a base of slate with scintillating, transparent facades, the bank sets new standards for work in the financial sector by providing an approachable environment that opens up to the city. With a tribute to the great Nordic landscapes, the new Nordea Headquarters rises like a sparkling giant ice block on a charcoal slate base.

The crystalline facade allows daylight to flow through the building and is a key component in the vision of creating transparency between employees, clients and the surrounding city. Passersby can glance in from the outside and witness life and work within the building. The headquarters consists of two masses with indoor atrium spaces. One wing houses Scandinavia’s largest trading floor with a capacity of 600 traders, the other buzzes with life and energy sparked by activity among employees and clients.

The bank meets the city
Nordea’s new headquarter has been designed with the objective of creating a transparent house that meets the city in a welcoming manner. Despite the security levels indispensable to a financial institution, we have created a building where the public has visual access to live and work inside the bank, to conference rooms and offices.

The reception is located in a publicly accessible inner streetscape with views of the sky through massive skylights and to the inside of the bank through transparent internal barriers. Clients experience a bank that meets them at eye level. Visual contact and uninterrupted views are guiding principles that are established across meeting rooms and offices, quiet spaces, balconies, stairways and dining areas. Throughout the day, employees feel connected to the spectacular nature of adjacent Amager Fælled and in return, the bank welcomes in the city.

Inspired by the North
The selection of materials for the Nordea Headquarter is inspired by Nordic landscapes using both slate, oak, and trees borrowed from the vegetation of the Nordic forests, adorning the indoor atrium space. The inspiration for the innovative and expressive façade draws on the fractured surfaces of icebergs. Functionally, the façade also meets Nordic principles here related to sustainability. The façade based on a two-pane window concept called the Kastenfenster System.

The system comprises three-dimensional cassettes that are angled and assembled like building bricks. Natural ventilation, noise dampening, and solar shading are physically handled in the cavity between the panes of glass. The façade solution helps to ensure the effective operation of the building, energy savings, better acoustics and indoor climate control. The glass used in the façade is of the highest quality, with a low iron content. This ensures natural reflection of daylight and ensures the outdoor views can be enjoyed.