Lovely bones: Caruso St John strips Kvadrat Soft Cells’ studio down to the essentials

Kvadrat Soft Cells has revealed the renovated space for its division in Copenhagen, designed by London-based firm Caruso St John. Located in a historic warehouse in the city’s industrial Nordhavn harbour, the space will serve as a workshop location for the Kvadrat Soft Cells team to develop research, design work, prototyping and communications for the brand.
Caruso St John reduced the bright, lofty space down to its bare bones, removing all existing features to reveal a concrete base on which they built a system of shelves and sliding doors. Arranged over two floors, the space has been outfitted with large wooden panels to create divisions for offices and meeting rooms.
Kvadrat Soft Cells’ bright and lofty new showroom space in Copenhagen
The architects explain that the only material addition to the interiors were sheets of spruce with an oiled surface, used to divide the loft into three separate areas (the foyer, atelier and workspace), but the idea is that these partitions can slide open to turn them into a larger space for events.
Caruso St John also took care of the custom-made furnishings, creating work surfaces in a special version of the wooden panels made of walnut. Soft Cells panels are displayed throughout the workshop, and additional furniture comes from iconic mid-century collections as well as contemporary brands.
The facility has been launched to take Kvadrat’s textile prowess to the next level, producing fully customisable high-performance acoustic panels, and combining the company’s original savoir faire with technological research. ‘The project is meant to provide a flexible background for Kvadrat Soft Cells to pursue its ambitious and ever evolving plans,’ says the architects. ‘We think, so far, it is working.’
The only material addition to the interiors was big sheets of spruce lumber-board with an oiled surface, used to divide the loft into three distinct areas: the foyer, atelier and workspace
The space is arranged over two floors with minimal wooden structures to create divisions for offices and meeting rooms
Sliding wood partitions allow rooms to be transformed into a larger space for events
INFORMATION
For more information, visit Soft Cells website
ADDRESS
Soft Cells
Orient Plads 1
2150 Nordhavn
Copenhagen
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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.
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