The Krane: Reincarnated industry

This decommissioned crane is home to possibly the most spectacular and intimate hotel you will ever find in a big city.

It defies logic that Copenhagen’s most calming hotel experience involves dangling in a glass box above one of its starkest industrial areas. But in a disused coal crane in Nordhavn, ‘THEKRANE’ exists as an aesthetic haven that both heightens and soothes the senses with the drama and beauty of the sea, sky and soft Nordic light.

From engine room to lookout post

Taking inspiration from its former purpose, the experience at ‘THEKRANE’  is of layers building from the ground up, all bathed in myriad shades of black. Within these spaces, exclusive handcrafted Danish design is realised in leather, wood, stone and steel.

Via a drawbridge-like staircase, the ground floor’s reception area accesses the glass-boxed ‘MEET’ above it, leading on to the grey stone ‘AMAZINGKRANE SPA’, itself furnished with panoramic views and twin bathtubs. Atop all this is the 50m2 ‘KRANEROOM SLEEP’, an intimate one room-for-two hotel whose integrated furniture melts away the functional elements in a serene space.

Developer Klaus Kastbjerg, who was also behind the conversion of The Silo’s from grain store to hyper luxury residence, mapped out ‘THEKRANE’s’ future with a vision “to have it reincarnated into something contemporary with soul.” Now that it exists, this is elegantly informed by its industrial setting, yet without any of its hard edges, heaviness or clamour.

Near The Krane 

If you take a walk along the quay, you can stop by Harbour House I and II, designed by the architecture firm Kim Utzon Architects. You can also walk to the eye-catching Orientkaj Station, from where you can explore the entire Nordhavn area.