- Architecture & development
The headquarters of the Danish company Kirk Kapital in the port city of Vejle is a work of art on water, an architectural fjord and a 21st-century fortress in one. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the result is so unique, when you know that the design came from artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann.
In 2014, Eliasson and Behmann founded Studio Other Spaces to connect art and architecture. The interdisciplinary buildings and public artworks always emerge from an experimental approach in which, among other things, an analysis of the environment results in unique spaces. 
One of the reasons for setting up this design studio was the Fjordenhus project, which Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann had started five years earlier (the concept was launched in 2009, the construction phase ran from 2013 to 2018). The building was to serve as the headquarters for Kirk Kapital, but it also has a number of rooms that are open to the public. In addition, it was important that the design would connect the inner city of Vejle and the port. This environment influenced the design and the result is a building that rises out of the water (it can be reached by a bridge) and that with its organic forms, open spaces and many windows that reflect the water, is somewhat like an architectural fjord. The architecture is also in line with the many warehouses and silos along the pier. 
The environment influenced the design and the result is a building that rises out of the water.
Furthermore, the building is also conceived as a total work of art. Eliasson himself designed the (Danish) bricks in various shades. In total some 970,000 bricks were used in earth tones, as well as glazed blue, green and silver bricks. There are also several unique works of art by him to be seen in the public spaces on the ground floor and the three floors in which Kirk Kapital has his offices. Studio Olafur Eliasson also created a number of furniture pieces and lighting elements, so that the whole is beautifully balanced.
Images courtesy of Olafur Eliasson. Photography by Anders Sune Berg & David de Larrea Remiro