º£½ÇÊÓƵ

Skt Petri (now 1 Hotel Copenhagen)

Copenhagen, Denmark

At the former Sankt Petri Hotel, º£½ÇÊÓƵ played a pivotal role in supporting the transformation of a much‑loved Copenhagen landmark into a contemporary luxury destination, delivering complex technical upgrades within a historic structure that remained fully operational throughout.

Originally built as a department store, the building occupies a prime position in the heart of Copenhagen’s lively Latin Quarter. Constructed in phases between 1929 and 1935, with later additions, it has long been a prominent feature of the city’s urban fabric.

For more than two decades, the building operated as the 284‑room Sankt Petri Hotel. Following a change in ownership, it underwent a comprehensive interior refit as part of a wider programme of refurbishment and repositioning, prior to its transformation and reopening as 1 Hotel Copenhagen.

º£½ÇÊÓƵ was engaged to support the transformation of the Skt. Petri Hotel into 1 Hotel Copenhagen. During both the design and construction phases, the hotel remained operational as Skt. Petri, ultimately reopening as 1 Hotel upon completion of the refurbishment.

Originally a 1930s department store, the building was converted into a hotel over 20 years ago and has since undergone a major refurbishment, reopening as 1 Hotel Copenhagen in 2025.

Our experts provided consultancy around building services engineering (MEP), acoustics and structural engineering as part of the refurbishment.

The scope included optimising the efficiency of the building’s services and infrastructure, with as strong focus on sustainability targets set in collaboration with the client.

We also advised on the structural and acoustic implications of remodelling the internal division of spaces.

Challenge

Bringing together building services (MEP), structures and acoustics expertise, our team worked closely with the client and wider design team to modernise the hotel’s infrastructure, improve energy performance and enhance guest comfort, all while respecting the building’s heritage and the commercial realities of a live hospitality environment.

The refit included optimising and updating building services where required, as well as reshaping most of the interior layout, including remodelling the footprint of rooms, meaning structural implications need to be taken into consideration.

One of the key challenges was the phasing and planning of the works, given that the hotel remained open and operational throughout.

Improving the sustainability of the building was a key driver for the project, with the client targeting LEED Gold and BREEAM Excellent certification. The hotel is listed as a historic building, which limited the interventions possible on the exterior of the building.

Solution

Our teams worked closely alongside a number of other consultants as part of this broad multidisciplinary fit-out design team, led by Synergy architects, who were working with the local Arkitema architects on the implementation of the design, as well as interior design specialists Norm. The external terrace design has been caried out by SLA Landscape architects.

The goal was to retain and reuse as much of the building services plant and infrastructure as possible, to optimise its efficiency as well as tuning it to the building’s new internal layout. Our experts advised on a major upgrade of the cooling system to update it to be fit for purpose and to ensure a resilient and efficient system for the hotel in the coming years.

Our MEP specialists conducted a thorough investigation of the systems throughout the building to develop a good understanding of what could be retained and what should be replaced. We then built a series of test rooms, to experiment with the design and ensure the greatest efficiencies will be achieved throughout the building. Our findings were digitally modelled to present to the client and the wider design team, in order to ensure the lessons learned could be incorporated across the whole refurbishment.

Our structural engineers investigated the existing structural systems, which date back to the 1930s, to understand if the stability of the building allowed for the interior modifications required by the new design. The building’s listed facades required a particularly sensitive approach, with all external interfaces and services solutions carefully coordinated to preserve the historic character of the elevations while accommodating modern performance requirements discreetly and with minimal visual impact.

A critical part of our role was supporting the client in planning and sequencing the works so the hotel could remain fully operational throughout the refurbishment. Working closely with the wider design and construction team, we helped develop a phased strategy that divided the building into carefully defined zones, allowing works to progress without disrupting guest experience or core hotel functions. This approach required flexibility, with interventions scheduled around seasonal occupancy patterns and peak trading periods.

The hotel is connected to the local district heating network, which supports its ambition to minimise its operational carbon footprint. Our experts also examined the potential scope and cost for joining the building with the Copenhagen district cooling network at some point in the future.

Value

This major refurbishment of the former Sankt Petri hotel allows it to continue thriving as 1 Hotel Copenhagen – a flagship five-star tourist destination at the heart of the city.

A key value for the client was our ability to deliver essential upgrades without interrupting hotel operations, helping minimise revenue impact throughout the works. While a more conventional vertical phasing might have been simpler from a technical perspective, the chosen horizontal zoning aligned better with hotel operations, and our teams adapted building services and construction strategies accordingly. This collaborative, operationally led approach minimised downtime, protected revenue, and enabled a complex refurbishment to be delivered within a live hospitality environment.

At the same time, we supported the hotel in meeting its sustainability targets, strengthening the long‑term environmental and economic resilience of the building.