The Silo

The Silo is not a building that asks to be softened. Originally used as a storage container for grain, the 17-storey structure at the centre of Copenhagen's Nordhavn was converted by Danish architects COBE into a residential building, and in doing so became one of the most architecturally charged addresses in Scandinavia. Its concrete interior was retained in its raw state, with ceiling heights reaching up to seven metres, and an envelope of galvanised steel wrapping the exterior in a material that carries the harbour's character directly into the facade.

Verda's commission was to design a private duplex within this context. A home that could stand up to the building without competing with it. The approach was deliberate restraint. Raw concrete, exposed structure and double-height volumes were accepted as given; the interior was designed to move between them rather than against them. Bespoke joinery, furniture and lighting were developed specifically for the proportions of the apartment, pieces that could only exist at this scale, in this shell.

The result is a residence that feels excavated rather than decorated. A space with the silence and verticality of a cathedral, and the warmth of something deeply lived in.

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