menu-icon
Scandinavian
MIND
search-icon
Design / Hospitality
Martin Brudnizki designs 25hours hotel in former porcelain factory in the heart of Copenhagen
25hours Indre By is full of local art and suppliers, including vintage pieces and unique designs brought back from the archives.
7 Jul 2022

According to Brudnizki, 25hours Hotels is a brand not only with a very strong identity — it is unique and recognisable across Europe. 

— I was excited to be working with the hotel group and we’ve really pushed the boundaries with this design, mixing high and low materiality and incorporating expressive artwork, colours, and patterns, he shares. We’ve taken a layered approach to the design process. Since the hotel is a combination of rooms and functions, we wanted to ensure each space had its own identity whilst retaining a sense of a shared collective narrative. So we have used lots of bold graphic patterns and colours as well as creating a harmonious thread through the use of artwork, antique and vintage finds, and planting which can be found across the whole site.

— This is simply something that has not been seen in Copenhagen before — a universe full of colour, artworks, and stories to tell. The clear message in everything we do, the location, and the design are unique, says Lise Egenius, general manager of the hotel.

25hours Indre By.

The 19th-century building was a porcelain factory in its advent before graduating to become a university.

— The building has been many things over time, Egenius continues. But most recently, it was part of Copenhagen University’s studies of law and theology. And this is the theme we have built our world around.

— We always try to ground every project to its location and often the building is our starting point, says Brudnizki. Here, we were presented with a fascinating building that had many guises over the years. We were especially interested to learn that the building was once a printing works and paper mill. Not only did this feed directly into our idea of ’Knowledge’ and ’Learning’, but it also gave us an opportunity to be creative and design something unexpected. In the reception area, we have designed a sculpture crafted from books which directly references the paper mill heritage. 

As part of ”creating a harmonious thread”, he continues, he and his team have developed unique designs and fabrics with suppliers. 

— We created a bespoke pattern with Pierre Frey on a selection of curtains which are found in the public areas and worked with Danish supplier Thonet on a selection of dining chairs which were brought back from their archive, especially for the hotel. Sasha Compton is a wonderful lampshade painter and she designed and painted the shades for Neni Restaurant — each shade is inspired by the style of the Bloomsbury Group but references eastern motifs which work perfectly for the Lebanese food offering. We’ve used a number of Danish suppliers and designers within the hotel, helping to retain a sense of locality but also seeing a reduction in air miles. Our procurement agency was based in Copenhagen and we’ve utilised Danish makers and producers for the lighting and vintage pieces. The artwork in the bedrooms has all been produced by Danish artists and creatives too.

Next out for 25hours Hotel is the second hotel in Copenhagen, called Paper Island and set to open in 2024. Martin Brudnizki will have a really busy year, after two slower ones during lockdowns and pauses, working in the UK with The Dorchester Hotel on a new bar as well as a boutique hotel in Soho called The Broadwick. Additionally, two hotels in New York and two restaurants in Miami are nearing completion. And, in Paris, he and the team are completing their first hotel towards the latter end of the year, Le Grand Mazarin, which is ”full of colour and whimsy”.