SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen

The hotel for the Scandinavian airline SAS was the first skyscraper in Copenhagen. The high-rise building located at the corner of the busy streets Vesterbrogade and Hammerichsgade was built to the south of the historic core near the main railway station. It was designed by Danish modernist Arne Jacobsen, who was inspired by Manhattan skyscrapers (Philip Johnson called it the worst copy of Lever House). Jacobsen's design partially conceals the railway line, most evident in the northern part of the two-story terminal, where the grid of columns adapts to the railway tracks below the building. A number of citizens fought not only against the disruption of Copenhagen's skyline but also against the minimalist appearance of the high-rise, which they believed could stand in any metropolis. Jacobsen's earlier collaborator Erik Møller compared the skyscraper to a cigarette box, while others likened it to a giant perforated stamp. In defense of the project stood architect Vilhelm Lauritzen (the designer of the Copenhagen airport terminal from the late 1930s), who warned against attempts to give the building a more individual or national appearance. The project eventually gained support from the city council, which even approved an increase in the building's height by 10 meters to 69.6 m during negotiations. The resulting structure consists of two distinct volumes. The low two-story base contains the hotel lobby, restaurant, and transportation terminal. The vertical section is formed by a nineteen-story hotel with 259 rooms. A separating technical floor was inserted between these horizontal and vertical volumes. The complex also includes two levels of underground parking. In addition to maximizing the use of land, Jacobsen's goal was to provide enough tranquility in the high-positioned rooms at an otherwise busy intersection.
The characteristic façade is created by alternating strips of windows (120 cm high) with gray-green glass panels (168 cm high). Opening windows and fixed glass panels are set into vertical aluminum profiles spaced every 60 cm. The main entrance to the hotel is highlighted by a subtle canopy supported by a pair of columns clad in black marble. Arne Jacobsen designed the hotel down to the smallest detail. His signature features a circular suspended staircase, which is a centerpiece of the entrance area, as well as individual light fixtures, textiles, furniture (the Egg and Swan chairs and the Drop chair are still produced by the Copenhagen firm Fritz Hansen), and even small items for dining (glasses, cutlery,...).
In the spring of 2018, the local studio Space Copenhagen completed a total renovation, during which lesser-known Jacobsen products (the Mayor sofa and Giraffe table) were also used. However, the hotel rooms had to be adapted to today's needs, so only room no. 606 remained in its original state, but it does not serve as a design museum; it can be rented as usual.