A building at Vipp‘s Copenhagen headquarters is transformed into a guesthouse of burnt wood and golden copper in this installation by French-Moroccan office Studio KO at 3 Days of Design.
For Copenhagen’s annual design fair, the Danish homeware brand invited Studio KO founders Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty to create an experimental design for its growing guesthouse series.
Their response saw the Vipp garage reimagined as a dark, atmospheric space with a mysterious charred wood cylinder at its centre. Inside, visitors found a glowing room featuring a kitchen with a polished copper finish.
“The space we have imagined is very much a tribute to the opposing notions of refinement and roughness,” said Fournier, ahead of the installation opening.
“There is a kind of harmony created in the meeting of these contrasts we find exciting, and I think visitors will instantly be transported when entering the space,” he added.
“A collision of cultures representing our two worlds awaits them.”
Having started as the manufacturer of the ubiquitous pedal bin, Vipp now produces a wide range of furniture and homeware, but is especially well-known for its highly crafted kitchens.
Since 2017, the brand has opened a series of guesthouses furnished with its products, in stunning locations including southern Italy, Tasmania, Mexico’s Todos Santos and Denmark’s Thy National Park.
Studio KO’s design offers a more experimental take on the Vipp guesthouse concept, intended to push the Scandinavian brand outside its comfort zone.
Fournier and Marty worked with the brand to develop a copper version of the bestselling V1 kitchen, which is typically produced in steel with a black or stainless steel finish.
For the rest of the space, the designers chose to upholster Vipp’s Loft sofa and Swivel chair.
They swapped the usual leather for a patterned Pierre Frey textile that pays tribute to artisanal hand weaving.
A vaulted brick ceiling was installed overhead, evoking a traditional vernacular architecture, while spotlights and Vipp Paper lamps provided light and shadow contrasts.
Smoke, scent and music enhance the moody feel.
“To us, Vipp represents the north, with all the excellence of its design and industrial production quality, while we at Studio KO bring a very different sensibility, drawing from ancient cultures, as our roots are in the south,” said Fournier.
“With this project, we want to challenge what people expect to see from a Danish design company,” added Kasper Egelund, CEO of VIPP and the grandson of company founder Holger Nielsen.
“A new kind of harmony occurs when contrasting materials and ideas come together,” he said.
“With an element of surprise and playfulness, the space integrates tactility, audio, smell and bold aesthetics that we hope awaken all the senses.”
Studio KO’s guesthouse was open to the public throughout 3 Days of Design, along with a matching charred wood kiosk installed in the courtyard outside. Here, visitors could take postcards from the various guesthouse locations.
To celebrate the installation, Vipp also launched a special copper edition of its classic pedal bin. It marks the first time the bin has been produced in copper since its launch in 1939.
The project has particular resonance for Jette Egelund, Kasper’s mother, who inherited the company from her father in the early 1990s and was responsible for turning it into a globally recognised name.
“My grandfather was a copper smith and had a workshop in the provincial town of Randers, Denmark,” she said. “I still have a few of his copper pieces.”
“Seeing my father’s bin wrapped in my grandfather’s trademark material feels like the circle is complete,” she added.
Vipp x Studio KO was open from 18 to 20 June 2025 as part of 3 Days of Design. Visit Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
The photography is courtesy of Vipp.
