Danielle Siggerud is an Oslo Norway-born architect who has been based in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the past 12 years.
The 30-year-old Siggerud’s style is refined and understated. Her elegant, little office is located in the inner courtyard near St. Anne’s Square (Sankt Annæ Plads) and Nyhavn in Central Copenhagen.
About 15 minutes’ walk across several bridges on the island of Holmen is the elegant townhouse home of Siggerud and her husband, Mathias. Siggerud has design both, but we are especially interested in the townhouse.
The 380 square-metre (4,090 sq. ft) townhouse, that Siggerud has lovingly and painstakingly renovated, is located in the former Danish Royal Naval Base set of buildings and dates back to the 1600s.
Her approach to the building was that of the proverbial sculptor who took a large slab of marble and then ‘took out everything else except the sculpture.’
Siggerud considered the project from an architect’s perspective, first learning about the history and original room set up of the building, then studying how natural light falls within the spaces at different times of the year and each day.
She says that interior design should echo the architecture, and in her own home she has executed this philosophy perfectly.
The home is combination of exposed dark wood, white main surfaces, and vintage and new modernist furnishings and well-considered pieces of art.
The arched windows, wooden floors and exposed dark beams give the home a calm, timeless atmosphere, yet it is not a forcedly minimalist dwelling, neither a pretentious designer display.
During her studies, Siggerud interned for a year with John Pawson in London and she credits much of her super-critical approach to detail, materials and light to the lessons she learned at his office.
This understated viewpoint and Siggerud’s talent are clear in the townhouse, where the former years of the building are allowed an expression in the almost-monastic bedroom, for example, yet the home is decidedly a home. The warmth comes from soft touches here and there, but mainly it comes from the natural light. Tuija Seipell.
