THEODORA HOUSE

Once a working brewery, now a neighbourhood. Carlsberg City has grown from a closed industrial precinct into a dense, walkable district, one that blends heritage with quiet confidence.

Theodora House stands at its centre. Named after the daughter of Carlsberg’s founder, the building sits beside the iconic Elephant Gate, a threshold between past and present.

Of the original yeast storage, only one wing could be preserved. It remains, now home to offices overlooking a calm public plaza. The rest is newly built, a careful composition of apartments, street-level cafés and shops scaled and detailed to sit gently within its historic setting.

But it’s the brick that defines the architecture. The original façade was retained, and the new masonry was chosen not to replicate, but to resonate. The brick tone sits between clay and stone, warm, earthy, and familiar while the surface finish was developed to echo the materiality of its surroundings without imitating it.

Inside, a quiet courtyard gives contrast. In time, its walls will be overtaken by green climbing plants, ivy, garden beds a soft counterpoint to the brickwork that surrounds it.

Theodora House doesn’t compete with history.

It listens to it. It draws from it. And in doing so, it sets a new tone for Carlsberg City one built in brick, one built to last.

Along the northern façade, curved bricks soften the massing, creating a play of shadow that drifts toward the roofline. It’s a subtle gesture, one that shifts with the light and brings a sense of movement to the form.

At street level, brick reliefs trace the story of the site. Gates are pressed with motifs from the brewery’s past. The building is both new and old layered, lived-in, and anchored in place.