Dagmarhus at Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen is to be renovated in order to reopen as a hotel with 238 rooms and a new penthouse storey. Gottlieb Paludan Architects provides architectural expertise on the project.

In collaboration with Danish hotel owner Claus Hildebrandt, the Dutch hotel chain citizenM will be opening a hotel in Dagmarhus, which is currently an office complex. Dagmarhus is a historical building situated at Rådhuspladsen. During the German occupation of Denmark 1940–1945, the property housed the German Central Administration in Denmark together with a department of the Gestapo. Dagmarhus became available when the law firm Gorrissen Federspiel moved into Axel Towers some 100 metres down the road. The use of the property was subsequently reconsidered in connection with a local plan review.

A modern hotel in a historical setting
As architects, GPA is heading the transformation of the existing office complex into a modern design hotel. GPA is tasked with realizing citizenM’s brand standards and special requirements to the design in accordance with the Danish building regulations and within the framework of the existing architecture and construction.  The transformation from an office complex to a hotel will be undertaken with great respect and sensitivity to the history of the building and the surrounding urban environment. Thus, all modernization measures and other alterations will be performed without any noticeable changes to the existing façade and Dagmar Teater, the cinema situated on the ground floor of the building since 1939, will remain in its current premises.  There will be entrance and lobby on the ground floor, hotel rooms on floors one to six, and a new recessed 7^th storey will be added in the same architectural idiom to create a roof-top restaurant with a panoramic view of the capital.

GPA has collaborated on the project with Steenberg Architects, Concrete Architects and EKJ Consulting Engineers for full-service contractor Hoffmann and owner Claus Hildebrandt.