Dezeen Magazine

Carl Hansen & Søn opens showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell Design Week 2015: Danish brand Carl Hansen & Son has opened a space in London's Clerkenwell to showcase furniture by mid-century designers Hans J Wegner, Kaare Klint and Poul Kjaerholm (+ slideshow).

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

Carl Hansen & Son joins a number of international furniture companies with showrooms located in Clerkenwell, and opened its space on Bowling Green Lane to coincide with the area's annual design festival this week.

"The UK is one of our strongest markets, with customers demanding great quality and craftsmanship in their furniture," said CEO Knud Erik Hansen. "Also, with some of the world's best architects and interior designers working out of London, we felt it was time to bring the whole universe of Carl Hansen & Son, as well as Rud Rasmussen, to this design-led city."

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

The three-storey showroom is located in a historic building once owned by James Johnstone, the proprietor of the Morning Herald and Evening Standard newspapers.

The rooms feature large windows on both sides, set within exposed brick walls. Black-painted columns run through the centre of the long, narrow spaces, with lighting mounted along linear frames on either side.

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

In the ground-floor gallery space, furniture is arranged as small room sets across the pale wood floor.

Pieces by Danish Modernist designer Hans J Wegner, including his iconic Wishbone chair, are displayed alongside Ole Wanscher's Colonial Chair and Frits Henningsen's Heritage Chair on the first level.

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

Designs licensed by Danish company Rud Rasmussen, which was acquired by Carl Hansen & Son in December 2011, are laid out on the second floor of the building – the first time the collection has been shown in the UK.

As Denmark's oldest cabinet-making workshop, the company produces the Faaborg Chair by Kaare Klint, the Mogens Koch Bookcase System, and Poul Kjaerholm's Professor Desk – all of which are presented here.

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

Danish Modernist design has been growing in popularity with consumers over the past few years.

Companies including Carl Hansen and Republic of Fritz Hansen are now reproducing old products by Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, and an exhibition of Wegner's furniture was presented at Copenhagen's design museum last year.

Carl Hansen and Son showroom

Clerkenwell Design Week 2015 ran from 19 to 21 May. It also featured a series of totem-like installations and a pavilion designed to look like a colourful Murano glass sweet.

Photography is by Ed Reeve.