Salto & Sigsgaard’s Renowned Council Chair is Refined for Gødstrup Regional Hospital

Organically shaped Danish design from House of Finn Juhl – Onecollection and colourful paintings, digital artworks, mosaics, and relics by Danish artist Erik A. Frandsen set the ambiance and generate a beautiful setting for patients, personnel, and relatives at the regional hospital in Gødstrup, Denmark. The 375-meter-long foyer pays tribute to Danish furniture and art while introducing a new standard for hospital design.

Architecture and Human Needs at the Core

The chairs and tables that are softly dispersed throughout the long foyer are designed by the duo Kasper Salto & Thomas Sigsgaard. The chairs, now known as the Council Family Series, were refined and designed for the hospital but were launched prior to the opening.

The Council Family Series is a further development of the Council Chair which Salto & Sigsgaard designed for the renovation of the Finn Juhl Chamber at the UN Headquarters in New York in 2013. Amongst Salto & Sigsgaards furniture, patients, personnel and guests also find lounge areas at the hospital sprinkled with Finn Juhl’s famous and classic designs, such as the Poet Sofa and the Pelican Chair in soft pastel colours which matches the building and the artworks. “4-5 years ago when the hospital reached out to us, this was mainly grounded in our work at the UN Trusteeship Council Chamber in New York. In 2013, we were awarded the engagement of recreating the iconic expression of Finn Juhl in the enormous chamber, that he designed the interior of in 1952 – which is now widely regarded as one of the most important pieces of Danish cultural heritage abroad. We (House of Finn Juhl – Onecollection) hold the exclusive rights to produce Finn Juhl’s designs, but it was this project at the UN, awarded to Salto & Sigsgaard’s design which cemented our name internationally.” says Hans Henrik Sørensen, Co-founder of House of Finn Juhl – Onecollection.

Gødstrup Regional Hospital has received the prestigious award Art Installation of the Year for the art installation in the 300-meter-long foyer. The award is presented annually by Design in Mental Health in the United Kingdom.

Hans Henrik Sørensen continues; “Finn Juhl is renowned for designing from the inside-out, while focusing on the human body and the human needs. Today, he is most famous for his sculptural furniture, but he was in fact quite an ingenius interior designer. His focal point was to create an entirety by bringing everything together via the interior – a so-called Gesamtkunstwerk. This philosophy goes hand in hand with the vision of the hospital.”

From the Council Chair to the Council Family Series

Salto & Sigsgaard have designed functional and durable furniture that carefully considers the human body and the architecture of the hospital. Internally and externally, the upholstery on the chairs differs in colours and materials, and the backrest and seat are kept separate so dirt and crumbs will not get lodged between them.

This feature carries special significance in interiors such as this, where hygiene is of the utmost importance. The design needs to be extremely durable and easily maintainable for the sake of the hospital personnel. Gødstrup Hospital is carefully thought out, down to the last detail. The many oases are intended to provide patients and relatives with small and intimate “pockets” for them to retire to and escape the wings of the hospital. “In addition to the beautiful finished result, it has been an immense pleasure to engage in this cooperation. It is not often that you get to work with a public institution that is so ambitiously focused on interior and design” Henrik Sørensen states.