Ælfred: the brand new east London vacation spot for classic Scandinavian design

‘We need to do one thing that is enjoyable, accessible and will get individuals to attach with objects once more,’ says Danish vendor Nina Hertig. And It’s inconceivable to not really feel an old-school procuring rush once you enter Ælfred, a 300 sq m treasure trove of Scandinavian midcentury finds in east London. Rows of ‘PH’ pendant lights dangle from the rafters and cabinets are stacked with ceramics from the likes of Royal Copenhagen, lamps by Louis Poulsen, glassware and classic silver cutlery. Acquainted names – Børge Mogensen, Haslev, Alvar Aalto’s Artek – add to a pleasant mixture of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish classics all below one roof.  

Inside Ælfred: London’s classic Scandinavian design emporium

Ælfred couldn’t be extra completely different to Hertig’s first enterprise. In 2005, she co-founded her Kings’ Street gallery Sigmar, the place pedigree items by Scandinavian masters embody Finn Juhl chairs for £6,500 and shoppers are homeowners of Manhattan penthouses who make use of her inside design companies. 

At Ælfred, on the canal in Hackney Wick, costs vary from £15 to £2,500 and virtually nothing is catalogued. What’s extra, nothing is out there on-line. There’s no time for that, what with containers of fastidiously chosen inventory arriving recurrently from Denmark. ‘We are able to make issues accessible by scaling the enterprise, which is one thing we have to do now in London,’ she says.  ‘We’re basing Ælfred on a excessive turnover of stuff. We’ll have a truck right here each two weeks.’ 

For individuals who don’t need to purchase a whole dinner service together with items they are going to by no means use, enormous units of glassware, silver cutlery and crockery might be combined and matched. 

As Hertig factors out, many objects comparable to glasses and cutlery don’t must be purchased new. ‘They’re so nicely made they’ve lasted for many years, and have a lot extra life left in them.’

The identify Ælfred is an in-joke; Alfred ‘The Nice’, King of Wessex, famously fended off the Vikings throughout a lot of his reign within the ninth century. This Ælfred, says Hertig, is extra welcoming of all issues Scandinavian, and can welcome guests and locals too.