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Sounds like home

Malene Hvidt & Nikolaj Lorentz Mentze

Walking through Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, you might miss the quiet path that leads to the architect Malene Hvidt and designer Nikolaj Lorentz Mentze’s house tucked away amongst the trees. Although discreet, the driveway extends forward and invites visitors into a peaceful haven, where the couple’s Labradoodle sits outside to greet new arrivals.

A home for all the senses

Image of fruit and candles on a table
Image of Malene Hvidt and Nikolaj Lorentz Mentze sitting in front of their house

The open plan kitchen and living room reflect the nature outside where natural materials of wood, stone and metal have been imaginatively used within the space, reflecting the couple’s passion for craftsmanship, respect for the original 1980’s building and their heritage.

Image of Beosound A1 inside Malene and Nikolaj's kitchen

From inside the doorway, the walls are cladded in wood that makes the welcome chatter feel close and cosy. In the distance, the subtle smell of coffee brewing and freshly lit candles cast a warm glow on a cold and dusky Danish morning as music softly plays in the background. This is clearly a home for all the senses.

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Explore Malene & Nikolaj’s home

“Maybe why we have a lot of things crafted by Nikolaj or that we inherited from our families is because the generations before us, that we stand on the shoulders of, had another way of being in connection with craftsmanship.”

Malene Hvidt

Architect

Image of Beolab 8 and Beogram 4000c in Malene and Nikolaj's home

A shared passion for craftsmanship

The couple each come from a family of designers that carry a strong legacy of craftsmanship. Malene’s grandfather Peter Hvidt was a renowned Danish architect and pioneering 1950s furniture designer balancing functionality, craftsmanship and art. Malene vividly remembers the whitewashed brick fireplace in her childhood home designed by Halldor Gunnløgsson, which they decided to replicate in their current home where a Beogram 4000c turntable connects with a pair of Beolab 8 speakers. Now, their son Eli creates his own childhood memories around the fireplace.

Image of danish architect Malene Hvidt and designer Nikolaj Lorentz in their living room with a Beosound A5 speaker in the background

The connection to Bang & Olufsen

Malene and Nikolaj’s passion for craftsmanship is part of the reason they feel such a strong connection to Bang & Olufsen. “With our upbringing in Denmark, we all grew up with Bang & Olufsen, it’s a big part of our heritage and reflects the design values that we have about artisanship, care for detail and use of materials”, Nikolaj says. Malene tenderly reminisces about a Bang & Olufsen television she had growing up that she purchased second-hand when moving to university.

“The sound of Bang & Olufsen connects with your senses, it sets an ambience, an atmosphere, and that’s why you connect with it in a special way. It reflects time but it’s also timeless, it’s everlasting but it’s such a clear picture of certain phases of your life”.

Malene Hvidt

Architect

Image of Beosound A5 Spaced Aluminium in Malene and Nikolaj's garden

An interplay between the inside and outside

The way the couple have incorporated natural materials into their home is palpable. The hand of the maker can be seen in the bathroom where Nikolaj carefully laid the pebble covered floor and walls himself. He affirms that this interplay between the inside and outside was intentionally created due to the limited space in the house. By making the outside come in and the inside extend to outside, the room looks bigger and creates layers.

  • Image of Beosound A1 inside Malene and Nikolaj's kitchen
  • Image of Beolab 18 in Malene and Nikolaj's living room
  • Bedside table in solid oak with magazine
  • Beosound A5 Spaced Aluminium in a bed
  • Up close image of Malene Hvidt wearing the Beoplay EX
  • Image of fruit and candles on a table
Image of Malene and Nikolaj with their son sitting in their living room

The Gift of Music

Music plays a big part in the couple’s holiday routine, believing that it sets the mood and ambience in their home. They draw a parallel between the work of musicians and their own as architects, “to some extent, we both put pieces together in a certain way to provoke feelings – one with sound and the other with materials”. Malene adds that music, much like in their work, has layers of tactility that can be revealed within the composition.

Image of Malene and Nikolaj wrapping up gifts

Music also plays a strong role in their creative processes and reflects the different tempos in which they work.

Nikolaj mentions that in some instances, they must be quick and generate ideas rapidly. Other times they can go into deep layers of storytelling within a certain concept or material to concentrate and focus. Even outside of work, Nikolaj mentions that music is the ideal complement to his perfect day at home. “My favourite thing to do is turn on my Beosound A5 and start cooking as a way to unwind from a busy day.”

For Malene, a perfect day at home is having time and being one place at a time. It is spending time with Nikolaj and Eli, or by herself, and focusing on that intimacy and space. She adds, “it’s about not being disturbed by anything else than what we choose within the boundaries of our home”.

The meaning of home

As the day unfolds, Malene and Nikolaj ruminate on the meaning of home. Malene reflects, “home is very much about rituals, about feelings; home is more a feeling than a space. It is about being surrounded by familiar objects that remind you of different parts of your life, and about family, a safe space, where we can connect with ourselves, each other, and the nature around us”.

Upon leaving Malene and Nikolaj’s tranquil space, it’s hard not to be struck by the sense of serenity and purposefulness, naturality and intent. These elements show how the concept of home is continuously created on an everyday basis by the couple – through craftsmanship, attention to detail, and respect for their roots. Eli plays and jumps along the stones outside their home which harmoniously sits within the surrounding trees, as though it has, and always will be there forever.

Image of Beosound A5 Spaced Aluminium on Malene and Nikolaj's bookshelf

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