Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design: Takeaways
Three days of endless inspiration.
Rich hospitality. Sustained craft. New technologies.
Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design has long been a highlight on the international design calendar, a thoughtful mix of new collections, collaborative spaces and conversations that are gently steering the industry forward.
This year felt a little different. Among the showrooms and launches, there was a noticeable shift in pace, a quieter energy that encouraged visitors to pause, rather than rush.
We left this year’s event buzzing with inspiration and a few standout insights:
Hospitality is now core to brand expression.
It’s no longer a luxury, but an expectation.
Craft matters more than ever.
In a world shouting with tech, the quiet precision of craftsmanship speaks volumes.
AI is our creative ally.
When used wisely, it streamlines the process and allows us to focus on our creativity and telling stories.
Image from A-N-D.
Slowing things down.
Amid the visual noise of modern life, a number of installations leaned into calmness, tactility and simplicity. Muuto’s Grounded in Nature was a standout, a soft, contemplative space designed to engage the senses and promote a slower rhythm. Inspired by neuroaesthetics, it brought together natural materials and muted tones to create something genuinely restorative.
Beyond the showrooms, the city played its part too. Opera Park, a floating garden tucked just off the harbour, offered a moment of pause during the festival. Pavilions, planting and a quiet café: it was a space made for slowing down.
This is reflected in our current work at Birch Cabins which are designed to allow guests to slow down, reconnect with nature and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Hospitality as an extension of brand.
A defining feature of this year’s programme was the sheer number of hospitality led brand activations. Rather than showcase products on plinths, brands leaned into atmosphere and experience, inviting guests into temporary cafés, bars and restaurants that said as much about the brand as the collections themselves.
New Works hosted a relaxed pop-up champagne bar with Taittinger whilst A-N-D Lighting collaborated with La Marzocco to open Café A-N-D, where new lighting pieces were integrated naturally into the space. Over at Hay House, a restaurant takeover by Locale 21 with art by Emma Kohlmann created a sense of creative community.
The common thread? Hospitality wasn’t just a nice addition, it was the message.
When we design hospitality spaces, storytelling leads the way. What makes this place unique? We aim to create environments that evoke an immediate emotional connection — where the brand speaks not through objects, but through atmosphere and feeling.
We brought this to life recently in a speakeasy-style listening room, tucked beneath a pizzeria in Boston — an unexpected space with a story all its own.
Image from Dezeen.
A continued respect for craft.
Craft remains a central part of the design conversation and rightly so. In a year where technology took up plenty of space on the agenda, there was comfort in the tactile, the handmade and the considered. It wasn’t about nostalgia, but about relevance: why certain materials, methods and forms continue to resonate.
We’ve recently partnered with Nomadic Watches to design their flagship store in Belfast — a space that reflects the brand’s deep-rooted dedication to quality. Merging Swiss precision with Irish craftmanship, our design takes an architectural approach, spotlighting materiality and detail to echo the story behind every timepiece.
At The House of Finn Juhl, “The Quiet Power of Patina” made this case elegantly. Timbers worn in, rather than out. Pieces that felt as contemporary as they did timeless. A reminder that good design doesn’t need to be new, just well made and well chosen.
Image from The House of Finn Juhl.
AI and the creative process.
Among the more future facing conversations was a talk titled Finding Inner Peace an open, honest discussion about the role of AI in design. There were no grandstanding or dramatic predictions. Just a considered look at how we might use technology without losing our intuition.
One of the most thoughtful takeaways came from Simona Maschi, who quoted Leonardo da Vinci ‘Technology should be the cure for human fatigue”. If used well, AI can create space for deeper creative thinking. But as designer Luca Nichetto noted, it’s essential we protect the value of process, the often-invisible steps that lead to meaningful, lasting work.
At 3 Days of Design 2025, we wandered through Copenhagen’s hospitality gems — eating, drinking, and soaking up inspiration at every turn. Days were filled with bold ideas, timeless pieces, and conversations that connected us to the global design community.
We’ve returned energised, with a renewed commitment to storytelling and the art of crafting spaces that speak with clarity, purpose, and brand soul.
