Simone is a Copenhagen bookstore that doubles as a gallery, event space or listening room

Cherry wood shelves by Derya Arpaç in Simone Book Services

Custom-designed furniture by Derya Arpac, Lærke Ryom, Kasper Kyster and Daniel Schofield sets the scene for this unconventional bookstore in the Danish capital.

Simone Book Services is a Copenhagen shop specialising in rare and independent books and magazines, but it can also be an exhibition gallery, a listening space, or a venue for book launches and other informal gatherings.

Turkish-born architect Arpac oversaw the intentionally “un-Scandinavian” interior, which includes modular shelves made from aluminium and cherry wood, mobile book trolleys and a counter dressed in leather.

Gallery

The concept for the store was born out of conversations between Arpac, who works for furniture brand &Tradition, and founders Tugce Kayar Subay and Ibo Subay, a married couple with backgrounds in fashion media and marketing.

The Subays had amassed such an impressive collection of art, design and fashion literature that they launched a “literary branding” business in February 2026, curating libraries for exhibitions, offices and brand spaces.

Simone gives the couple a physical platform for this business and allows it to evolve further. It showcases their curation of books and magazines, but also furniture and objects related to reading culture.

“Tugce is the book nerd, and I’m the design nerd; we came up with this idea of combining our passions,” Arpac told Dezeen.

“We wanted to create a space where people would come and be inspired.”

Arpac’s own contribution to the space is a system of wall-mounted shelves crafted from cherry, a red-hued hardwood that offers a different aesthetic to traditional Scandinavian timbers like oak, ash or pine.

“The shelving appears to extend and climb through the space, almost like scaffolding or the structural skeleton of a building,” she said.

The leather-wrapped counter was designed by Ryom, who specialises in alternative methods of upholstery. Similar to the Garments chairs she developed for The Mindcraft Project, the bar’s edges feature zippers that open up to reveal storage areas.

Kyster developed a shelving system made from folded sheets of unpolished aluminium, intended for displaying magazines. The system is modular, so more panels could be added in future.

For seating, Schofield crafted a bench out of sheets of black-pigmented MDF that slots neatly into the store’s corner. It’s joined by mobile book trolleys made from the same material, encouraging visitors to move books around the space.

In addition to the four designers, artist Staffan Sundström was invited to create paintings for the bookstore. He contributed three pieces for the store opening, although the display will change as works are sold.

The store also includes an area dubbed “the red room”, a David Lynch-inspired space featuring red walls and matching floor-to-ceiling curtains. This 20-square-metre space offers scope for small-scale events and exhibitions.

Since opening, Simone has hosted various events, including a book launch for photographer Lasse Dearman, a curated library for sports brand ASICS and a pop-up for fashion label Bonnetje Recut.

Future ambitions include the launch of “reading objects”, including everything from bookmarks and paperweights to lighting and shelving.