Garde Hvalsøe and File Under Pop – At home with Josephine Yaa Akuamoa

Whether it’s been the opening of BLOX, the development of The Opera Park, or more recently the building of Paper Island, over the last decade I’ve watched and witnessed many exciting changes to the harbour area of Copenhagen.

Formally the armoury of Christian IV and later paper warehouses for the national press, this vibrant new district, which spans a whopping 11 acres, has quickly become one of the Danish capital’s most fashionable addresses.

With residents now including Josephine Yaa Akuamoa, Founder and Creative Director of File Under Pop and her partner Peter Bur Andersen, Partner and Creative Director at design, architecture, and urban planning agency BRIQ, visitors like me couldn’t resist a look around when they opened the doors to their beautiful townhouse during 3 Days of Design.

Filled with light, as well as iconic pieces of furniture and vintage finds collected from Josephine and Peter’s travels, the interior of this inspirational three storey abode takes its stylish queues from the uninterrupted views beyond.

A rare balance of sea and sky, as well as a mix of contemporary and historic urban architecture, the focus here has not been about altering anything, rather demonstrating how good design could and should enhance the experience and atmosphere of new builds, no matter where in the world they are located.

“From the beginning, my aim was to show the influence of layered, intentional choices and how materials, colour, and craftsmanship can collectively produce a timeless home,” Josephine explains.

Neutral, soft and warm, the paint colours used throughout this house come of course from File Under Pop, and range from pale warm white and dusty beige-rose on the walls to an appealing ‘Deep River’, a tone that falls somewhere between military green and dark brown on the woodwork. Meanwhile Italian designer Davide Groppi has led on lighting, intriguingly shaping his concept not on the lamps themselves, but rather the objects and surfaces the light emitted from them touches and reflects upon.

For me however, the star of the show has to be the ground floor kitchen, which has been produced in close collaboration with Garde Hvalsøe.

Renowned for their carefully crafted kitchens and bespoke interiors, Josephine has worked with the company on both personal and professional projects before.

“We decided to move the five-year-old kitchen designed for the File Under Pop Studio to Paper Island,” Søren Lundh Aagaard, Partner and CEO of Garde Hvalsøe, comments. “Bringing something previously used and lived with into a newly built space was both a challenge and a statement, but it revealed how honest, organic materials can be renewed, refined, and continue to live on.”

Conceived almost as a piece of furniture, the enduring ‘Solid’ model with its long, wide planks that emphasise the beautiful grain, the innovative Koshi-do wall cupboards by OEO Studio, and the soft, bluish-grey toned zinc worktop, means the whole thing resonates with a bold beauty that only comes with age.

Demonstrating both the circular potential of honest materials like these, and the continuity of shared values that underpins this enduring creative partnership, Josephine adds, “Moving the kitchen felt like a playful challenge but also something deeply personal. I love the zinc framing of the cabinets. The sink in raw lava is our own File Under Pop design. And the pale ash wood – with its delicate, emotional grain – has always spoken to me. The three materials complement each other beautifully.”

Completed in just seven weeks, time may have been this project’s greatest challenge, but it also taught the team behind it valuable lessons in precision, patience and trust, along with proving how Garde Hvalsøe’s kitchens are made not just for use, but for life.