A neighbourhood of government buildings, news kiosks, restaurants, and shopping streets make for a vibrant spot, mixing century-old structures and new functionality. With room for an atelier, multiple studio spaces, a fully equipped kitchen, and an outdoor terrace, the showroom is a perfect set-up for the brand’s intention: for this to be a living space.

Kattesundet 4,1 — 1458 Copenhagen K

‘Instead of making an empty gallery, this is a place where people will work, play, and live. The showroom is all about using our furniture in real-life, feeling it, connecting the dots, and understanding how it all comes together. This is especially true at a collection level because we can learn and experience how the furniture facilitates different behaviours. Instead of a traditional showroom, which is often anonymous and stale, we want people to get to know us and experience the function and potential of the different products,’ says Martin Halle, Creative Director at +Halle.

The team at +Halle promised each other one thing when they took over the space in Kattesundet: if this is going to be somewhere our brand lives, let’s make it feel alive! The area has always been a social melting pot. It is here, at the heart of the city, with help from visiting designers, architects, writers and researchers, that +Halle will experiment with new archetypes based on current behaviours for public use. This ever-growing community will help articulate both critical thoughts and the collections that come out of it.

‘Today, the social ethos still resonates through the old beams of this place,’ says Linnea Ek Blæhr, Design Manager at +Halle. ‘From utilitarian details, radiators, and window frames – all painted in a vibrant blue

– to the light corridors and room dividers, the old architectural elements are not only respected but highlighted. We were inspired by Le Corbusier’s idea of dressing the industrial parts of a building, paying tribute to old functionality.’

A sense of direction

At the showroom, an intricate room dividing system, dressed in different densities of Maharam fabrics create intimate yet open studios where the +Halle collection lives. The bright kitchen, meanwhile, is home to a custom-made aluminium structure designed by Danish design studio BAES. Already a social hub, the kitchen is elegantly connected to the green, inviting terrace.

‘In recent years, we have avoided the big fairs and embraced good design hospitality instead. Our brand relations are crucial: we love being with people we can learn from and work with, coming up with new ideas as one collective brain. Bringing people together is at the core of what we do, and this space strengthens that even more,’ says Martin Halle.

The showroom is a place with a sense of direction, an intention to gather designers, architects, and thinkers to create furniture for the behaviours emerging in society today. It represents a start, as well as an ongoing discussion, a further development, and a world where people can come to spend time, day, and night. ‘The showroom is an expression of what +Halle does well as a brand: hosting and facilitating activations.

The collection is not made to be stared at, as pieces of art in a gallery – it is meant to be used, tried, and evaluated,’ says Ek Blæhr.

‘A lot of the furniture we are manufacturing has never seen the light of day before and some aspects of it might be difficult to grasp digitally. But in a space that constantly evolves, people can interact with the new, move around, and bring it together.’ Says Halle, adding, ‘It would be dreadful if this was a boring shop floor – it needs to live.’

Besides providing an ongoing programme of meetings, workshops, talks, parties, and events, the showroom is an intimate, behind-the-scenes experience. It’s the place +Halle’s open, responsive and collaborative approach to design and production can be put to the test.