Situated between two lakes and within the community of Christiania, the new Noma is built on the site of a protected ex-military warehouse once used to store mines for the Royal Danish Navy. Imagined as an intimate culinary garden village, guests are welcomed to experience a new menu and philosophy that will redefine Noma for years to come.

Central to the design was the idea of dissolving the restaurant’s individual functions and organising them into a collection of separate yet connected buildings. A total of 11 spaces, each tailored to their specific needs and built of the finest materials best suited for their functions, are densely clustered around restaurant’s heart putting the chefs at the heard of it all. Every part of the restaurant experience - the arrival, the lounge, the barbeque, the wine selection and the private company - are all clustered around the chefs. From their central position, they have a perfect overview to every corner of the restaurant while allowing every single guest to follow what would traditionally happen behind-the-scenes.

The 40-cover dining room and adjacent private dining room are made of stacked timber planks that resemble neatly piled wood at a lumber yard. A large skylight and an expansive set of windows that slide to reveal the outdoor permagarden allow guests to truly sense all of the seasons and the restaurant’s natural surrounds. Outside, the restaurant’s three greenhouses are used as a garden, test kitchen and bakery.

Each ‘building within the building’ is connected by glass covered paths for chefs and guests to follow the changes in weather, daylight and seasons - making the natural environment an integral part of the culinary experience. Guests have the opportunity to walk through each of the surrounding buildings and to experience a variety of Nordic materials and building techniques: the barbecue is a giant walk-in hut, and the lounge looks and feels like a giant, cozy fireplace made entirely of brick inside and out.

Project team:

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Finn Nørkjær

Project Managers: Ole Elkjær-Larsen, Tobias Hjortdal

Project Leader: Frederik Lyng

Team: Olga Litwa, Lasse-Lyhne-Hansen, Athena Morella, Enea Michelesio, Jonas Aarsø Larsen, Eskild Schack Pedersen, Claus Rytter Bruun de Neergaard, Hessam Dadkhah, Allen Dennis Shakir, Göcke Günbulut, Michael Kepke, Stefan Plugaru, Borko Nikolic, Dag Præstegaard, Timo Harboe Nielsen, Margarita Nutfulina, Nanna Gyldholm Møller, Joos Jerne, Kim Christensen, Tore Banke, Kristoffer Negendahl, Jakob Lange, Hugo Yun Tong Soo, Morten Roar Berg, Yan Ma, Tiago Sá, Ryohei Koike, Yoko Gotoh, Kyle Thomas David Tousant, Geoffrey Eberle, Jonseok Hang, Ren Yang Tan, Nina Vuga, Giedrius Mamavicius, Yehezkiel Wiliardy, Simona Reiciunaite, Yunyoung Choi, Vilius Linge, Tomas Karl Ramstrand, Aleksander Wadas, Andreas Mullertz, Angelos Siampakoulis, Manon Otto, Carlos Soriah

Client: Noma

Collaborators: BIG Ideas, BIG Engineering, NT Consult, Studio David Thulstrup, Thing&Brandt Landskab

Size in m2: 1290

Welcome To Noma 2.0 And Make Yourself At Home 

Noma 2.0 is located near Christiania on a historic site next to a lake that was once part of Copenhagen’s ancient fortifications. An existing concrete building that had been used for munition storage was turned into prep kitchens, fermentation lab and staff rooms. Bjarke Ingels’s BIG designed a complex of 11 new buildings for the restaurant, test kitchen and greenhouses. Clustered like classic Norwegian farm buildings they will eventually be surrounded by trees and plants with expansive views of the lake.Studio David Thulstrup designed the interiors to be true to the structure, echoing the external materials and with an honest, simple and modern feel.

The design concept emphasises a playful approach to materials – oak, brick, steel, concrete and tombac. Each building is made of one material and has a sole purpose, for example the dining room, entrance, lounge or private dining room. They’re expressive individually but make a more powerful statement grouped together. Noma 2.0 chef and co-owner RenéRedzepi calls the seven buildings comprising the restaurant the “Village”.

Let’s go for a tour.

Entrance

The gabled entrance building is made of tombac, which will patinate to a matt brown. Guests arrive at a rudimentary front door that looks like it’s been cut out of the slatted wooden front. Should guests wish to take their shoes off at the front door as many Danes do at home, the terrazzo floor is sandblasted so they can feel its river stones underfoot. Inside, natural oak panels line the ceiling and walls, which have integrated wardrobe doors. Flying at due north overhead is an artwork of driftwood and raw earth magnets, ‘Conscious Compass’, 2018, made especially for the space by the Danish Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who’s a friend of René Redzepi’s.

Service Kitchen

At Noma 2.0, René Redzepi wants the cooks to be at the centre of everything working in an open kitchen where the stainless steel usually seen in professional kitchens is banished in favour of oak-clad islands not unlike what you would have at home. Studio David Thulstrup developed the kitchen cabinets with the Belgian professional kitchen specialist Maes Inox. The energy of the kitchen spills into the surrounding rooms, connected by glass walkways. In the spacious circulation area lab-style glass jars on a round table display specimens of whatever is in season in front of an artwork by the Danish artist Carl Emil Jacobsen using pigments made from crushed stones. A steel and glass roof floods the kitchen with natural light. On the floor is a more highly polished version of the river stone terrazzo.

Dining Room

Think of the 42-seat dining room as a modern barn with huge glass windows looking out at the lake and the nature, where guests are otherwise enveloped in floor to ceiling oak. Dinesen heart oak planks with their signature butterfly joints are used on the floors and the walls are lined with stacked planks, held together by 250,000 invisible screws. In the centre is a counter made from a 200-year-old timber beam blackened from being immersed in the harbour nearby. Left deliberately unadorned, the dining room is designed for storytelling. As Noma’s seasonal menu changes so too will decorations hung by Noma’s staff. Working with chef Redzepi, Studio David Thulstrup designed new dining tables and chairs that are a contemporary riff on traditional Scandinavian chairs with seats and backs of woven paper cord. Made in light or darker smoked oak they were produced by the family owned Brdr. Krüger. Additional custom-made furniture includes built-in and freestanding pouring and waiter stations.

As with other spaces, the dining room is lit by a lighting range developed for the project by Studio David Thulstrup with the Austrian lighting firm XAL. It pairs new and flexible technology with a refined and simple design language. The conical shades were made in collaboration with designer Jonas Edvard, using locally sourced gesso.

Private Dining Room

More architectural than the main dining room, the private dining room is an intimate space with a smoked oak table seating up to 20 people as its centrepiece and large windows looking out onto a stand of trees. Dining in here should feel like a very personal experience. A wall of shelves houses Noma’s living archives and the six metre long table designed by Studio David Thulstrup was made by Brdr. Krüger from three planks of a 160-year-old oak tree from the island of Fyn. The architectural ceiling beams are clad in white oiled Dinesen Douglas pine. Cabinetmaker Malte Gormsen made the bespoke credenza designed by Studio David Thulstrup. Lampshades of locally sourced seaweed were developed in collaboration with designer Jonas Edward. Studio David Thulstrup designed wall lamps akin to those found in artist ateliers.

Lounge

The lounge is a place of welcome as well as somewhere for guests to linger and reflect on the dining experience they’ve just had. Large oak-framed windows with built-in oak and leather benches look out on the lake and greenhouses. Custom-made cream bricks with a grey grout on the floors and walls and natural oak planks on the ceiling evoke the clean modern lines of 70s Danish style. It’s nicely homey and relatively bare to heighten a sense of honesty and simplicity. A mix of classic and new furniture is arranged loosely like a home with some grouped near an open brick fireplace. Referring to large stone slabs that stood outside the old Noma, Studio David Thulstrup designed coffee tables in Swedish granite with smooth tops and rough-hewn edges. They are a strong foil for lounge chairs in natural leather or linen by the Finnish furniture producer Nikari. Custom-designed pieces by Studio David Thulstrup include two- and three-seater sofas in oak, a rug produced by Kasthall and the pouring station bar made from oak and Swedish granite. Blue cushions from a Faroese weaver and a yellow-pigmented concrete plinth by Pettersen & Hein add dashes of colour.

Art works include pieces from the ‘Amino Acids’ series of mould on wood by the Danish artist Silas Inoue. In homage to Noma’s residency in Australia 84 abalone shells are grouped together on the brick wall.Vintage 70s pendant lamp shades by Jørgen Wolff hang above the sofa tables and the studio created integrated spotlights for the ceiling with XAL.

Since its opening, noma has been at the forefront of gastronomy and creativity. The restaurant, four-times recognised as best in the world by the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants, last year closed its doors at the sixteenth-century harbour-side warehouse that had been its home for thirteen years. Now, and after more than three years of planning, noma has re-opened in a new space with wood from Dinesen as a consistent key element.

The trusted partnership between noma and Dinesen dates back to 2012, when Dinesen delivered the wooden floors for the renovation of noma’s original space at Strandgade. The relationship has since evolved and Dinesen has been made partner of noma 2.0, working with architects Bjarke Ingels Group and interior architects Studio David Thulstrup to deliver a space that reflects noma’s values, philosophy, and vision for the future. Consistent with noma’s own values, Dinesen takes pride in working with the best of what nature has to offer, with each tree carefully selected based on high-quality criteria.

Imagined as an intimate garden village, the new restaurant comprises a collection of separate yet connected buildings – a total of eight huts, each tailored to their specific needs and built of the finest materials best suited for their functions. To create a diversity through the different buildings, noma chose a combination of Dinesen HeartOak, Dinesen Oak and Dinesen Douglas.

“We are incredibly proud of our relationship with Dinesen, one that began many years ago at the old noma and continues here in our new home. Their approach to the nature’s materials is amazing, and it really makes me happy to have their wood around us and our guests.”

Q&A noma 2.0 - Thomas Dinesen

1. Please tell me the story of how your partnership with Noma originated?

Our HeartOak planks can be found in the old restaurant in Strandgade, so we have known the people behind noma for several years. That our cooperation with noma has now expanded to an official partnership is primarily because Dinesen like noma makes an effort to do better. That we are as passionate about the new noma as Rene and his team are. That we share the same values, pay attention to details and keep going until we reach our goal. And thenthe quality of Dinesen is a match to that of noma.

2. What was the idea behind your work at the restaurant?

Our task was first and foremost to transform the natural tranquillity and balance of the forest into a harmonious feeling of well-being and ease and bring that into the new noma. When that feeling is present,noma’s guests have the best preconditions to enjoy Rene Redzepi’s many surprises. In addition to that, we wanted to use both Dinesen Douglas and Dinesen Oak as these two amazing species each do something different.

3. What was the biggest challenge to overcome?

The biggest challenge was also our greatest joy: To work closely with creative and passionate people who understand the importance that lies in the details. Both Bjarke Ingels and Rene Redzepi are stars within their fields, and they have both set entirely new standards for creativity. When they work together, they create unique solutions, but the road to the finished result is not necessarily completely straight or quite easy. It takes a very particular level of cooperation and flexibility, and I think that we at Dinesen master that.

4. Please describe materials used including their point of origin. Any details about production, installation, craft and process would be much appreciate.

Dinesen sources 90% of our raw wood from Germany and France. In Germany, the term sustainability is rooted in their forestry and has been applied for more than 300 years. You cannot find any wood that is more sustainable than the wood Dinesen uses. We employ our own foresters who visit the forests every day. They find large, tall and chunky trees, and that gives us some fantastic possibilities. Dinesen is the place where the customers’ whishes meet what nature makes possible. It enables us to deliver planks that are up to 50 feet long and 20 inches wide. In noma, most of the floors are 18 inches wide.

Dinesen is a family business that is 120 years old. We know so much about selecting the wood and about the drying and manufacturing process. When we also know how to work with designers and architects, we are capable of creating completely unique solutions.For over 100 years, the trees have been tended by foresters with the greatest care and with the purpose of creating the best raw material as possible. Our relation to the owners of the forests in Germany and France is essential. In Germany, we work with a supplier whose family has owned the forest since 1600.

Our planks do something special when it comes to creating a sense of calmness and well-being in a room. That is one of the reasons why we have so many clients in metropolitan cities around the world. The more stress, the larger the need will be to retire to a home which fills you with new energy. In fact, we now have so many projects in New York that one of our most experienced employees will move there in the spring.

At Dinesen, we strive to succeed with our customers’ projects, and that is why we control the entire process from the forest to the finished project. Either alone or with partners. It is so important that everyone understands the great responsibility of making a real effort.We often compare the way in which Dinesen makes floors with the making of good food. We need to know where we find the best raw material which we need to store and handle correctly. We must have the right appliances and the good recipes. And especially, we need the skills and a passion to create the finest result. Every single time.

Every single part of the process is decisive, and nothing must be ruined by a lack of insight. At noma for example, it is our own floor fitters who have installed and finished the floors. We have delivered a large amount of wood in many dimensions in both Oak and Douglas. First and foremost, for flooring but also for walls, ceilings, columns, furniture and shelving units.

5. How long did the work take from start to finish? 

At Dinesen, we have used nearly a year from when we started to find the trees to the finished solutions. It has really been a project with many details that are beyond standard.

6. Please tell me why it's important for you to be a part of this project?

First of all, it is an honour that Rene Redzepi recognizes the quality of our planks and that Dinesen has been a part of creating the atmosphere in the new restaurants. noma is fantastic in every possible way. I have been to noma a couple of times, and what surprises me, apart from the food of course, is the extraordinary kindness which everyone at noma shows. You feel very welcome. Our planks will do very well at noma.

Not many people realise what an enormous effort that is made every single day in a restaurant like noma. As a company owner it is incredibly inspiring. Everyone works really hard to make sure that the customers get the best possible experience. Always and without exception.

7. What kind of direction did you get from Rene Redzepi?

In cooperation with Bjarke Ingels and David Thulstrup, Rene Redzepi has come up with a design where they wanted to use both Dinesen Douglas and Dinesen Oak for to two different restaurants. We listened to their ideas and requests until we understood exactly what they wanted.

8. How do you feel seeing the final results?

Through the years, we have been spoiled with amazing projects all around the world, and we have worked with extremely talented architects and designers who have been demanding but who have striven for the best.

The new noma is no exception. To be honest, the process itself has not been easy, but in return, the result is fantastic. I am proud that Dinesen is an important part of the new noma and that we have succeeded in making the exact solutions which were the objective of Redzepi and the team.

9. Tell me about the history of your business and your own role in it.

Our family business is founded in 1898 and is now run by the fourth generation. We employ approx. 100 people at Dinesen, and though we primarily make floors, we also make various other details in wood which help create the best result when furnishing a room.

We commit ourselves to being the best possible business partner for architects, designers and private customers. Our floors are Nordic, minimalistic and a bit understated in their expression. They display a state of calmness and purity and they create a sense of well-being.

That is why the planks are used in private homes, galleries, museums, churches and restaurants. Places which offer quiet contemplation and the possibility to relax and relieve stress. Due to these qualities, we get around in a large part of the world.

Previously, we worked mostly with historic buildings like castles, manors and churches, and we have several royal palaces on our reference list.

I own the company with my family. I am educated in forest management, and therefore,it is of special interest to me that we always find the best suited raw material. But first and foremost, it is my job to ensure that we always make an extra effort at Dinesen. Out of respect for the raw wood and out of respect for our customers.