Photography: James O. Davies & Brotherton Lock

Conceived by Jorn Utzon in 1961 for his friend the structural engineer Povl Ahm, this house is recognised as one of the most important modern houses in Britain.

Povl Ahm was a partner at the Danish engineering practice Ove Arup & Partners and worked with Utzon on the Sydney Opera House. Designed by the two Danes, the house was created for Ahm and his young family on this suburban site in Hertfordshire. Coppin Dockray were asked by the new owners – a professional couple with a young family – to design the interiors for the house.

Coppin Dockray’s choice of furnishings reflects the physical and historic context of the house and its Danish roots.  The furniture collection works with the architectural journey – providing punctuation with key pieces where there are natural pause-points and at other times allowing the eye to effortlessly slide around the soft curves of the Jacobsen chairs to the lush green of the mature garden beyond.

The material qualities of the interiors, like the house, are natural and crafted, deliberately chosen to be long lasting and to develop their own patina over time. Coppin Dockray’s work included careful repairs to the Grade II Listed 1961 house and the reinstatement of some of the original joinery based on Utzon’s standard details.

Coppin Dockray

All images courtesy of Coppin Dockray