Hotel of the Week: Audo House Captures a Creative Renewal in Copenhagen
In Nordhavn’s revitalized harbor district, a former trading post masterfully reimagined by Norm Architects now buzzes with activity as the Danish lifestyle brand’s all-in-one hotel, café, and concept shop
Once an overlooked stretch of Copenhagen’s northern harbor, Nordhavn has emerged as one of the city’s liveliest districts. What was formerly an industrial expanse of docklands and warehouses now buzzes with cafés, galleries, and glass-fronted residences overlooking picturesque promenades where cyclists zip past, swimmers plunge into cerulean seawater, sunbathers sprawl across timber decks beside moored sailboats, and epicureans enjoy buns and cheese alfresco. Calling the area Copenhagen’s mini-Miami doesn’t feel like a stretch.
Amid this resurgence stands Audo House, occupying a stately Neo-Baroque building from 1918 whose restored red-brick façade anchors the area’s “Red City,” a cluster of industrial-era brick structures adapted for contemporary use. Around it, old shipyard buildings have become home to architecture studios, coffee roasters, and design ateliers. Inside, Danish firm Norm Architects deftly reimagined the former trading post for Audo Copenhagen—the lifestyle brand born from the merger of Menu, The Audo, and By Lassen—as a seamless environment that unites hotel, restaurant, café, concept shop, and headquarters under one pristinely appointed roof.
Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, who co-founded Norm Architects in 2008, has a long history with the brand. “We’ve followed them ever since—from a company that sold mostly accessories into a full lifestyle brand offering furniture, lighting, and beyond,” he says. During their tenure as art and design directors from 2012 to 2018, the prolific firm helped redefine Menu’s creative identity through projects that bridged hospitality with material storytelling. One such venture was Høst, the celebrated Copenhagen restaurant conceived as an urban farmyard whose tactile surfaces and muted palette became an early study in sensory experience. The restaurant’s success laid the conceptual groundwork for Audo House, where the idea of atmosphere as community evolved into a fully realized environment.
The renovation began by lowering the ground floor and opening the façade, inviting the bustling streetscape inward through a front door crowned with a bell-shaped cornice. The foyer now doubles as café and reception, framed by soaring 15-foot-tall windows that pour light across clean-lined surfaces. From here, guests move easily into a concept shop, where Audo Copenhagen’s furniture and lighting appear in domestic vignettes. A grand staircase of steel, wood, and concrete connects the entry to Audo Copenhagen’s offices and the suites above, guiding visitors through a rhythm that shifts from open and social to serene and private. “Each level becomes progressively warmer and more intimate until you reach the guest rooms at the top,” explains Bjerre-Poulsen, who envisioned them as almost womb-like.
The nine guest rooms exude Scandinavian warmth without austerity. Slanted ceilings and exposed beams trace the contours of the roofline, while oiled Dinesen oak floors and limewashed walls diffuse light with a soft, chalky glow. Earth-toned furnishings from Audo Copenhagen’s collection complement natural linens, sumptuous wool upholstery, stone sinks, and smoked oak accents. Bronze hardware catches the light; a ceramic lamp or paper lantern adds a human touch. “When you step into the rooms, you can feel it instantly,” Bjerre-Poulsen says of the sense of ease. “Your body relaxes; everything around you feels honest and natural.”
The atmosphere extends to the communal spaces below. The café and concept shop open into a courtyard paved in hardwood and travertine, where Wulff & Konstali, the on-site restaurant, serves Portuguese- and French-inspired dishes concocted with seasonal ingredients. The consistent material palette ties every space together, so moving through Audo House feels like exploring a single, unfolding home. “Audo House reflects our collaborative spirit,” says Joachim Kornbek-Engell Hansen, design and brand director for Audo Copenhagen. “Beyond our headquarters and showroom, it’s a place to foster connection and redefine how we use design and space to connect with one another.”
That sense of belonging was intentional. When Audo House opened, Norm Architects enlisted around 20 local partners—among them woodworkers, tilemakers, and textile producers—to help realize the project. Together they created what Bjerre-Poulsen likens to a “collective showroom,” where each maker’s work lives and interacts within the larger whole, mirroring the creative renewal of Nordhavn. And they stuck the landing. Once unfamiliar with the idea of hotels as public gathering places, Copenhageners now flock to Audo’s café, shop, and courtyard throughout the day. Locals stop in for coffee or dinner, visiting designers host talks and workshops, and guests check in both to retreat from the city and embrace its creative current.