Ved Vesterport
| Ved Vesterport | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Location | Copenhagen |
| Country | Denmark |
| Coordinates | 55°40′27.12″N 12°33′40.32″E / 55.6742000°N 12.5612000°E |
| Completed | 1930 |
| Renovated | 1932 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Ole Falkentorp, Povl Baumann |
Ved Vesterport, (lit.: "Near Vesterport"), or simply Vesterport. named for its location next to Vesterport S-train station, is a copper-clad, early Functionalist commercial building situated on Vesterbrogade, diagonally opposite Copenhagen Central Station, in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The eponymous railway station is located at the back of the building, on the other side of the street Ved Vesterport. Designed by Ole Falkentorp in collaboration with Povl Baumann, Vesterport was the first truly modern commercial building in the city. Falkentorp has also designed the slightly younger Hotel Astoria on the other side of the street.
Due to its unusual copper-clad facade, the building became colloquially known as the five øre, with a reference to the only Danish copper coin. Later, after it has turned a sharp acid green colour, with patina, it is more commonly referred to simply as "The Copper Building" (Danish: Kobberhuset). The building comprised an underground parking facility with associated service station, retail at street level, Restaurant Ritz on the top floor and serviced offices on the other floors. The open-floor construction meant that it could be subdivided with non-bearing partition walls depending on the requirements of individual tenants. Den Permanente, an influential, two-storey design gallery, was located in the building until 1871.
History
[edit]Background
[edit]Copenhagen Central Station was moved to its current location in 1911. The Liberty Column had to be dismantled while the construction of the new central station took place. The plans for the area on the other side of Vesterbrogade was subject to prolonged debate. An architectural competition for the surroundings of the Liberty Column was held in 1910. Ole Falkentorp, who would later design the Vesterport building, submitted a proposal. It was created in collaboration with Carl Petersen. Their proposal comprised three buildings, a low central one, with an inwardly curved facade, flanked by two taller ones, all of them designed in a restrained, Neoclassical style. The competition was won by another proposal, created by the architects Holger Rasmussen and Egil Fischer in collaboration with the engineer Ove Kruse Nobel. None of the submitted proposals were realized.[1] Falkentorp and Petersen had both worked at DSB head architect Heinrich Wenck's design office. A third employee at Wenck's office was Povl Baumann with whom Falkentorp would later design the Vesterport building. The three architects were all involved in the establishment of the Independent Association of Architects (Den Frie Arkitektforening), created in opposition to the Danish Association of Architects (Akademisk Arkitektforening).[2]
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Carl Petersen's and Ole Falkentorp's 1910 proposal -
Petersen's and Falkentorp's 1910 proposal.
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Construction and early tenants
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The building was constructed by a British consortium headed by Prudential plc. It was planned as a mixed-use building with retail on the ground floor and mezzanine flor, a restaurant on the top floor and multi-tenant office space on the central floors. The architects Ole Falkentorp and Povl Baumann were charged with designing the building.[3]
Construction began in 1930. The building had not yet been completed when Restaurant Ritz opened on the top floor in 1931. The largest room, with gilded walls and ceiling, had room for 200 dining guests. The facilities included a billiard hall with 17 billiard tables.[4]
Den Permanente, a two-storey design gallery, with furniture, silver, ceramics and textiles, among other things,opened on the ground floor on 5 December 1931. It was located at the corner of Vesterbrogade and Trommesalen. The opening of the design gallery was attended by prime minister Thorvald Stauning and trade minister .[3]
Another modern feature was the underground parking facility, Autoparken Vesterport“, with room for 125 cars. A service station and a BP filling station were also located on the site. The picking up and bringing of automobiles was also among the offered services.[5]
The building was formally inaugurated on 22 March 1932 with a galla dinner in Restaurant Ritz on the top floor. The dinner was attended by the British ambassador Thomas Hohler, Prudential's CEO and chairman from London, Falkentorp and some of the first tenants.
One of the tenants who attended the dinner was Peder Møller, a retailer of women's clothing, who had sogned a lease on the rest of the ground floor premises. His shop opened later in the same year with 6+ large display windows towards the street. The shop was founded at Vesterbrogade 36 in 1914. The new shop opened in 1932. It was taken over by Kaj Skou in 1936.[4]
Due to the unusual copper-clad facade, the building became colloquially known as the Five øre, with a reference to the only Danish copper coin. The building was served by five lifts. One of them was an external lift which moved up and down the facade of the building in 20 seconds. Another strikingly modern feature of the building was the many neon signs mounted on the roof and facade of the building. They were all designed by Carl Grün, a Danish engineer who had worked for the General Electric Company in Schenectady.[4]
Dorvé Dancing Studio was located in the building from 1932. It was founded on Amagerbrogade in 1930. The nstitute was owned and operated by dancing instructor Cai Dorvé with the assistance of his sister Ella Dorvé. The courses included midern dance, step, plastic and ballet as well as fencing and gumnastics.[4]
The engineering company J. Stiirup & V. Prosch-Jensen was also based in the building (Vesterport No. 256). The company was involved in the construction of railways, port facilities, water locks and other large-scale engineering projects across Denmark. The company was founded in 1917.[4]
Another tenant was the Danish sales office of Schaub Radio. In 1932. due to monetary restrictions introduced in 1928, Schaub Radio established a local production of radio receivers for the Danish market at Emil Møller's Telephone Factory in Horsens.[4] J. A. Simonsen opened a chiropractic clinic in the building.[4] The company Odin Clorius was also based in the building from its completion in 1932. It was founded as Brødrene Vlorius in 1802 by the brother Odin and Axel Clorius. The factory was located on Vester Fælledvej.
In 1933, Restaurant Ritz was taken over byEmil Hansen. In 1935, Hansen established Ritz-Varieté, combining dining with live entertainment.[4]
World War II
[edit]During the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, part of the building was used by the occupying German forces. On 6 May 1945, when the Danish Brigade's 5th Battalion (aka Heacy Battalion) moved into Copenhagen, bound for nearby Halmtorvet, Hermans opened fire from the floor below Restaurant Eitz as well as a number of other buildings in the area. The fire was returned with 37 mm guns. The building was subsequently secired by members of the resistance movement. The shooting lasted for approximately 30 minutes and resulted in 10 wounded members of the battalion were wounded.[6]
Later history
[edit]The savings bank Sparekassen SDS|Sparekassen SDS was later based in the building. Sparekassen SDS was taken over by Unibank in 1990, which was, in turn, in 2000, merged into Nordea. [7]
In 2018, Ved Vesterport was refurbished for Nordea Ejendomme with assistance from PLG Arcgitects. Part of the building was subsequently once again operated as serviced offices, now under the name Office House Vesterport.[8]
Architecture
[edit]
Ved Vesterport fills an entire city block from Vesterbrogade running back to Gammel Kongevej. The building has 10 floors, two of which are basement floors and one is a technical floor. The building, which surrounds three service courtyards, has a total floor area of approximately 40,000 square metres. It was the first steel-framed building in Copenhagen with reinforced concrete floors. The facade is clad in copper panels. The strict symmetry of the principal facade and the tall central projection seem to echo the Neoclassical style which had dominated Danish architecture in the previous decade. The sides of the building follow the irregular shape of the site. The facade of the ground floor is finished with white columns, broken by a through-going canipy.
References
[edit]- ^ Lebech, Mogens. "Københavnske projekter - det København som aldrig blev" (PDF) (in Danish). Stig Vendelkærs Forlag. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Ole Falkentorp". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish). Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ a b Zinglersen, Bent. "Vesterbros Passage – Et stykke København mellem Rådhuspladsen og Trommesalen" (PDF) (in Danish). Samleren. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Danmarks Amter og Deres Mænd, Hovedstaden" (PDF) (in Danish). Hafnia Handelsforlaget. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Ved Vesterport". arkitekturbilleder.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Den danske Brigade i Sverige 1939-1945 - 5. (tunge) Bataljon, Del 1" (PDF) (in Danish). chakoten.dk. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Fakta: Sådan blev Nordea til" (in Danish). Børsen. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "PLH ombygger kobberhus på 25.000 kvm" (in Danish). Building Supply. Retrieved 15 September 2019.