Søren Pihlmann founded Copenhagen-based pihlmann architects in 2021. Approaching the existing context as its point of departure, the practice closely considers materials, construction systems, and production logics in its projects.

At Thoravej 29, pihlmann architects transformed a 1960s Copenhagen factory into an animated space for arts and community. Through the careful dismantling, cataloguing, and reintegration of structural elements, surfaces, and interior components, the practice sought to enable the building to recycle itself. Floor slabs were tilted into staircases, walls were transplanted to form pavements, and fittings were reborn as furniture. Prioritizing subtraction and adaptation over the addition of new material, the practice recognized the building’s heritage as part of a cyclical system, incorporating traces of its former uses into the life of the new spaces.

Now, the building houses studios and production spaces for artists, as well as workshops, exhibition rooms, a public café, and offices for a number of cultural organizations. With 95% of its existing material retained through the transformation, the project stands as a radically conservative model of structural reuse.