Les Deux new Headquarters

Step into the new head quarters of Danish menswear brand Les Deux and you could be forgiven for thinking you’d taken the wrong door and walked into the lobby of a cool new boutique hotel. Ping pong tables have become a bit of a cliché in shared office spaces and creative hubs but a basket ball court??! And a fully operational gym? And that’s not even mentioning the luxurious lounge areas with sectional sofas straight out of a Bond movie. Or the chic marble coffee/cocktail bar. It could almost be a showroom for some of the most striking examples of contemporary Scandinavian too. But no, your Google map was correct - this IS a fully operational office and workspace that houses dozens of (very happy) employees in the far eastern reaches of Copenhagen.

From the humble beginnings of a simple white t-shirt, the entrepreneurship of founders Andreas von der Heide and Kristoffer Haapanen has slowly but surely grown Les Deux into one of the biggest players on the Scandinavian fashion front. Now producing complete collections that encompass the initial forays into sportswear mixed with strong tailoring and smart accessories, all with that cool Danish sensibility, Les Deux has expanded way beyond the initial duo. The old headquarters were bursting at the seams and it was clear that they needed to move on. But, being the visionaries that got them into this enviable position in the first place, they were never going to settle for a cookie-cutter office space with flat-pack furniture and a water cooler as the social gathering point. Instead they have created a building that ticks all the boxes when it comes to practical work days but also is somewhere that employees will actually enjoy spending time and actively want to hang out in. And true to brand, it utilises an unexpected mix of different elements (witness the juxtaposition of wine bar and basketball - the perfect reflection of sportiness and urban lifestyle that runs through everything Les Deux produce).

Taking their inspiration from Denmark’s much loved and highly regarded Louisiana Art Museum - an achingly beautiful building a short drive north of the capital city - the office architects were given a brief to create a space that reflected the international flavour of the brand but placed it firmly in the design language of Scandinavia. Evident even from its name, Les Deux has always celebrated duality and the joy of mixing two contrasting elements to create something new and inviting. This can be seen in the collections where sports-influenced hoodies are paired with tweedy blazers and elegant tailored trousers matched with sweatshirts and sneakers. The same thought process was applied to the materials used throughout the building with hard concrete and steel frames providing an industrial backdrop to pale oak wood and polished marble. Sections of the floor remain untouched and raw whilst others are beautifully laid with timber floorboards. The non-slip basketball court and gym floor adds a graphic third element. And above it all soars the warehouse height roof, giving a theatrical and spectacular scale to the whole building.

When it came to desks, chairs and sofas, high-street design classic knock-offs were never going to cut the mustard. Instead the architects approached some of Denmark’s leading furniture producers - Paustian, Fredericia and Norr11 to name but a few - to collaborate and create different areas with different atmospheres and uses. The aforementioned lounge and bar area invites conversation - from brainstorming sessions and creative think- tanks to casual meetings and interviews - and is also the perfect location for that ever popular Danish tradition, the ‘Friday bar’ where bottles of natural wine or gin and tonics fuel weeks-end socialising and bonding. Elsewhere, communal tables and long benches invite inter-department mixing at lunchtime (a nutritional lunch is provided of course!). And a healthy staff is a productive staff so the state-of-art gym (fitted out with Swedish Eleiko equipment) can also be the venue for before-work yoga classes as well as after-work de- stressing sessions on the rowing machine. Throughout the whole building, the Nordic sense of well-being pervades, along with a recognition of quality and style and the role they have in the quality of life of the employees.

Les Deux started out with the ambition to be a major player in menswear, not only within Denmark or Scandinavia but on a truly international scale. This has already take the company a long way but never at the expense of losing their Scandinavian heritage. The new head quarters marks the next stage in the development of the company and highlights once more that drive and determination to be global can sit hand in hand with a respect for employees and an acknowledgment of quality and style. Could anything be more Danish?!