After almost four years of tender, specification and not least strong collaboration, VELUX Commercial DK has delivered 874 VELUX Modular Skylights for the new headquarters of Danske Bank. Close relations to the architects and smart daylight solutions for how to create the space above the bank’s traders have been key drivers in the project.
The Danish VELUX Commercial sales team was approached early in the process by the architect, who said they had a big project coming up involving skylights. A few months later, they could reveal that the new build was Danske Bank’s new headquarters close to the Central Station of Copenhagen, and they wanted VELUX Commercial to be part of the process of creating a space full of daylight.
A smart solution that improves the building design The architects initially had the idea of installing single rows of flat roof windows on each tile of the roof, but VELUX Commercial Sales Manager Martin Kongskov and his team instead suggested to cover more of the roof with glazing using our VELUX Modular Skylights (VMS) as a 5° ridgelight, comprised of two rows.
“Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects wanted to install smaller VMS longlights in 5°, each consisting of 2-3 modules under which they desired a circular lining in the ceiling to control the daylight inside. This solution lacked flexibility because of thick upstands and required minimum distance between the upstands due to the use of roofing felt. Another obstacle was the risk of burning roofing felt on all the upstands, because of all the corners and thereby risking leaks,” explains Martin Kongskov.
Using double rows of VELUX Modular Skylights not only solved these issues but ended up being a less expensive solution. It also gave the architect the opportunity to place the linings more randomly beneath the ridgelight.
Another important benefit of this solution was the 5° slope. The city of Copenhagen has a maximum height on buildings, so utilising every centimetre is essential, and creating a flat roof gave the architects an opportunity to elevate the building. It also gave VELUX Commercial a great competitive advantage since we are the only skylight manufacturer on the market offering this solution.
“We went home to make some calculations, while the architect did the technical drawings, and ended up selling 874 VELUX Modular Skylights instead of 400, ensuring optimum daylight for the bank’s traders when the building is finished in 2023,” says Martin Kongskov.
You have to take the customer on a journey and show what we can actually build
Sometimes you have to transform the vision of the customer Martin Kongskov has been a big part of the project and was keen on meeting the wishes of the architect. However, working as a salesperson also requires that you sometimes transform the vision of the customer, which the case of Danske Bank shows.
“I often use the term vision transformation because I believe it is what we do. We have a customer who has a vision, which is something we not always have the right solution for. In those cases you have to take the customer on a journey and show what we can actually build to an extent that makes sense. In this case with Danske Bank as with many other VELUX Commercial cases, it was about explaining the value of the modularity that we can offer – a seamless watertight and safe system which has been tested thoroughly and because of its multiple units, creates more daylight”
