Hummel

Danish Hummel’s collections are sold in 28 countries and the company has seen almost explosive growth over the past years. One result has been construction of their strategically located head office in the creative environment on the ‘cotton quay’ in the Port of Aarhus.

This is the former naval submarine facility which has been converted into an exciting mix of vast showroom and dynamic office environment. It is a superb location with the water, views and raw harbour environment as an integral part of the experience.

The property company Olav de Linde converted the existing industrial hall in consultation with hummel. It is a large building with 4,000 sqm of floor space and ceilings up to 8 m high in the biggest rooms. The entire eastern gable is one massive glass section with spectacular views of the harbour. 

Jan Olesen, project architect at Olav de Linde, says, “The old and new are designed to merge into a coherent and integrated design which dramatically reflects the light from sky and water. The upper level is new and was formed by constructing a continuous floor between the ground floor and the original ceiling. When we had to select ceiling materials for the large rooms on the first floor and in the side buildings where there is ample height, Troldtekt was the obvious choice because architecturally it matches the slightly ‘raw’ environment while fully meeting the acoustic requirements.” 

In this project, it was important to find solutions for several acoustic issues. These included noise infection from the showroom adjoining the open offices, handling the potentially incorrect placing of radiant heating panels and finding the right walls and ceiling areas for sound absorption, while taking into account the large glass façades, together with reducing the reverberation time in the showroom and offices to improve the working environment.  Again, Troldekt provided the answer.