New drawing office in modernist property

When a young couple – both architects – bought a Friis & Moltke house on Djursland, the property included a dentist’s clinic in the third wing. These rooms have now been carefully transformed into a drawing office.

Dating back to 1960, the property possesses many of the distinctive features of Friis & Moltke’s single-family houses from the period. The house appears closed in on itself from the street, but opens up towards the rear with a courtyard overlooked by large window sections.

Built from hard-wearing materials and with minimalist detailing, the property has retained its original look, and the architectural style with graphic contrasts and repetitions have inspired the interior design of Haaber Arkitekter’s offices in the former dentist’s clinic.

The entrance from the street has been preserved, as have several secondary rooms, while the clinic’s main treatment rooms have been combined to form a single large space which functions as a drawing office and kitchenette. Daylight floods in, predominantly through the highly placed east-facing windows, but there are also several windows overlooking the courtyard.

Harmonious renovation

The choice of ceilings for the drawing office was inspired by the property’s rustic wooden ceilings and fell on Troldtekt line acoustic panels in natural wood. The architect Mads Haaber gave a lot of thought to the surfaces in the room, which all play an important role in the modernist house.

Separating the Troldtekt ceiling from the walls with a groove accentuates the ceiling as a distinct surface. Troldtekt line was chosen because it ties in with the rhythm and profiling found elsewhere in the property, and because it adds a sense of precision without being excessively refined.

Mads Haaber also wanted a characterful ceiling, and one that is aligned with the scale of the house, which Troldtekt line does. The fact that the drawing office is directly connected to the architects’ home also called for a ceiling that would contribute to good acoustics as well as providing a homely touch.