London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

After a Motorcycle Accident, an Architect Builds His Dream Home

After a Motorcycle Accident, an Architect Builds His Dream Home

Tommy Rand didn’t want to waste any more time, so he got to work designing a minimalist home for his own family on the outskirts of Aarhus, Denmark.

While Danish architect Tommy Rand mainly focuses on urban property development via his firm Markholt & Rand, he recently flipped the script with one of his latest projects, a new two-level home for his family. The architect, who’s now 40, had always dreamed of building a house of his own, and after a near-death motorcycle accident in 2018, he decided it was time. While in recovery, he began thinking about the design.



"I could only sit up for one hour at a time due to the injuries from the accident, so I had a lot of time to think," explains Tommy. "My vision was to create something new and modern, which did not look like other houses."



Located in Aarhus, Denmark, the contemporary home consists of five boxes which rest on a sprawling concrete base. "All of the details were carefully considered," Tommy says. "The five boxes shift in facade lines and heights to make the design more dynamic, but it’s still simple and minimal."



When you enter the home, its central feature is immediately on display. "There, a spiral staircase stands in the middle of a square window, like a sculpture," says the architect. "The shape of the stair is like a snail house, which opens up more and more as you go up to the first floor."



To achieve the stair’s mesmerizing effect, Tommy used CNC-cut plywood. "There are 630 pieces, and they were all assembled and glued on-site, piece by piece," he says. Tommy also designed a lot of the home’s furnishings, working with a local cabinet maker who used oak wood.



In addition to oak, the home comprises two more main materials: raw concrete, and Norwegian Oppdal quartzite stone. "I used the materials in different combinations throughout the various rooms to make a cool balance between raw and fine, cold and warm," says Tommy.

To enhance the home’s minimalist aesthetic, he hid the lighting, ventilation, and home speaker system behind the ceiling’s oak slats.



Measuring nearly 800 square feet, the residence features large, open living areas, four bedrooms, two baths, and a garage. Glass doors connect the lower level public spaces to the outdoors, where a west-facing terrace links to the kitchen. "The floors on the terrace are made from Norwegian stone, like inside the house, so it makes the inside and outside space float together visually," says Tommy.



"The most important lesson I learned during this process was not to compromise on design and materials," he concludes. "I did not, and it is a great satisfaction every day when I am in the house."


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×