SAS Royal Hotel

In July 1960 the SAS Royal Hotel opened in Copenhagen as the world’s first design hotel. Now known as the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, it was the embodiment of Arne Jacobsen’s whole-picture approach to architecture and design.

Jacobsen received the brief in 1955 from Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) to build the first hotel of its kind and set Copenhagen up as the Nordic gateway for the new tourists travelling from America. The hotel was to act as a terminal in the city centre, with guests whisked direct from its cocktail lounge to Kastrup Airport in a mere 20 minutes.