[3] [4] Architect Henning Larsen (1925–2013) and engineers Ramboll and Buro Happold and theatre consultant Theatreplan designed the facility.

It opened on 15 January 2005 in the presence of shipping magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (1913–2012), Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and Queen Margrethe II.

The tenor Plácido Domingo made a gala guest appearance as Sigmund in Wagner's Die Walküre on 7 April 2006 in a production by Kasper Bech Holten and attended by The Queen.

[5][6] [7] The Opera is located in central Copenhagen at the shore of the Inner Harbour, and just opposite the main palace Amalienborg, residence of the Danish royal family.

If the pit is filled, some musicians are located just below the front of the stage, which has become controversial among some members of the orchestra (according to tour guides in 2005), because this increases the sound levels, beyond those acceptable in Denmark.

[10] Just like the old Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, The Queen has her own box on the left side of the auditorium, closest to the stage.

It was named after the original Takkelloftet, a building just south of the Opera 280 meters long and built between 1767 and 1772 for storing ropes for the navy.

Designers did not account for this, but stagehands have solved this problem by constructing temporary dressing rooms near the main stage for quick changes of clothes or makeup.

Henning Larsen, on the other hand, was trying to make sure that the original architectural ideas were carried through the construction process, especially concerning the large glass surface front, which became a matter of great controversy and subsequent compromise.

The bridges constructed to access the building were made from oak trees originally planted in the 19th century for use in replacing the national fleet that was lost with the bombardment of Copenhagen in September 1807.

The front of the building was originally designed with large glazing panels in order to see the shell of the auditorium from the harbor side.

Painter and sculptor Per Kirkeby (1938–2018) created four bronze reliefs for the wall to the auditorium, just below the maple wood part.

Per Arnoldi also designed the Front curtain for the main stage, made of multiple color threads creating a three-dimensional effect, that does not reproduce well in photographs.

Instead, they have tried to imitate the color using more traditional staining techniques, and the result is very close (the official homepage says differently, but the guides in the Opera tell this story).

After the inauguration of the Opera, architect Henning Larsen took the unusual step to write a critical book about the building and how it was built.

Henning Larsen was deeply and genuinely offended by the way Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller had treated him and his building, which the book documents in detail.