Design counsel.

Filled with inspiring objects coherently displayed in spacious galleries, the new Danish Design Centre is an accessible, exemplary model for such buildings.

The Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen, designed by Henning Larsen, is an example of what such a place should be. It is in the centre of the city, readily accessible to everyone and full of inspiring pieces of industrial design elegantly displayed in Larsen's civilized building. Added attractions are the intelligently presented exhibitions held at regular intervals. The place feels full of invention and vigour.

All this is scarcely surprising. In Denmark, traditions of industrial design are rooted in belief in the importance of functional integrity and expression of structure and material, and consciousness of these traditions persists. As a consequence, design is a Danish strength, and sensibly, the Danes want to exploit the fact.

The building opposite the Tivoli Gardens confronts the busy Hans Christian Andersens Boulevard with a double glass skin. It rises the full height of the five-storey building and is designed to shut out the noise of traffic while at the same time providing the inhabitants with splendid views of Tivoli. Incorporating automatic vents, the screen provides climatic control, admitting natural ventilation when necessary to cool the structure's concrete decks. The building is made up of open flexible floors, with service cores at either end of the long axis.

Behind the building is a luminous double-height courtyard covered with a glass roof and rising to a first-floor gallery giving access to upper floors. It is both the social focus of the centre, containing a caf[acute{e}] and shop, and a link between the main building and a second, two-storey annexe at the back of the site. From the street, passers-by can see through the main exhibition gallery on the ground floor into this pool of light. Beyond, the annexe contains two more enclosed and spacious galleries, one on each level.

The building is also a lively conference centre, with two floors of conference facilities above the galleries, including a lofty hall on the first floor and a large restaurant on the second. On their way up, delegates can pause on the open gallery to inspect exhibitions by young designers and schools. Offices on the upper floors have access to a roof terrace.

Apart from the lightness and airiness of the various spaces, the great delight of this building derives from Larsen's crisp detailing and sumptuous use of pale ash panelling and flooring which contributes to luminance -- as does the pale stone lining the ground floor. Furniture throughout is another source of pleasure. Chosen to match the spirit of the building and the centre's purpose, the collection is a compendium of good Danish design: Arne Jacobsen and Fritz Hansen, Kvadrat, Thygesen & Sorensen, Erik Magnussen, Peter Lassen, Friis & Moltke, Kasper Salto.