Stelling House


Stelling House is a building on Gammeltorv in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 1937, it was designed as an office building and retail store for the A. Stelling paint company by Arne Jacobsen who took pains to have it blend in with the older buildings which surround it.

Architecture

Towards the end of the 1930s, influenced in part by Gunnar Asplund, Jacobsen moved from the white-plastered functionalism of his Bellavista developments to a more Nordic modern approach. Indeed, built in a puritanically modernistic style, Stellings Hus complements the classicism of the surrounding buildings.
The reinforced concrete structure is six storeys tall, the top floor being slightly set back. The two bottom storeys are clad in green-painted steel plate while the upper part of the building is finished in grey tiling. Although the building does not appear to be out of place today, like his Aarhus City Hall it was openly criticised at the time both for its general appearance and for the materials used. In 1991, it became a listed building.

Café

The Oonaco restaurant and café on the ground floor is furnished with tables and chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen. It replaced the Stelling Café which used to occupy the same site.

Literature