The renovation of the old farm that houses Monomal’s practice was nominated for Renover Prisen in 2018.
Turning dream homes into reality Helping clients to realise their dream home, Monomal creates simple, functional architecture and beautiful spaces for everyday life. The firm’s recent transformation of an old, ramshackle farm into a modern home and architectural practice was nominated for Renover Prisen – a Danish renovation award – in 2018.
vice with a new house concept, the highly functional pre-architect-designed MonomadehausTM.
By Signe Hansen | Photos: Monomal
simple, and ‘normal’, and that’s very indicative of our work. A large part of life is normal and ordinary, and we see it as our greatest task to provide the frames for that part of life,” says Snowman. “It’s very much about working with the space, the light and the materials. We can’t decide where we place the properties we design, but we can influence how they’re situated and how they’re designed, to include the best of the area in the building.”
Having specialised in residential architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Topsøe-Jensen always knew that he wanted to design homes. “My ambition was to take residential architecture, the creation of individual homes, more seriously; to take it back to the level that we know from great architects like Utzon and Jacobsen,” he explains. “But since their time, it’s a sector that has been pushed into the background as most firms have focused on bigger-scale projects – or on interior design.”
Building onto those principles, three years ago, Monomal expanded its ser-
The lack of focus on individual homes is largely due to the fact that many firms,
Founded by Uffe Topsøe-Jensen in 2008, Monomal is today run by Topsøe-Jensen and his partner, Kira Snowman. As partners in both life and business, the two architects have set up their home and practice in an old, renovated farm in Havreholm, north of Copenhagen. The renovation of the farm was nominated for the Danish Renover Prisen, and with a string of simple, beautiful and functional solutions, it provides a visually compelling illustration of the values at the heart of Monomal’s work. “Our name, Monomal, is a contraction of the words ‘mono’, for 18 | Issue 130 | November 2019
Serious about homes