Hanging an Arne Jacobsen Wall Clock: Height, Size and Wall

Arne Jacobsen drew his clocks for buildings: a bank hall, two town halls, an electrical manufacturer. Bringing one home raises a smaller set of questions, and they are the ones this guide answers: which diameter suits the distance you will read it from, how high the centre should sit, and how to fix it so it stays level on plasterboard or brick.

If you are still choosing between the four dials themselves, our earlier piece on the Bankers, Roman, Station and City Hall wall clocks covers the faces and their history. Here the subject is the wall.

Four sizes, four weights

All four clocks share the same construction: a mineral glass lens, an aluminium case and ABS parts, with a battery-operated movement. The case holds the concave glass front slightly away from the wall, which is why the clocks seem to hover rather than sit flat. What changes from one to the next is the footprint, the depth and, most importantly for fixing, the weight.

The jump in weight is not linear. The Roman at Ø29 cm is under one and a half kilos; the Bankers at Ø48 cm is roughly three times heavier, at 4.03 kg. That single figure decides more about the installation than anything else in the table.

Match the diameter to the reading distance

A wall clock is read at a glance, usually from wherever you happen to be standing or sitting. So the question is less how big the wall is than how far away the reader will be.

• Read from a chair at a desk. The City Hall Wall clock Ø16.5 cm is the natural choice. Its 5 cm depth also keeps it clear of a shelf beside it.
• Read across a kitchen or a study. The Station Wall clock Ø21 cm gives a clear face from the far side of a typical kitchen without dominating a wall that also has to hold cabinets, a window or a rail.
• Read from the other end of a room or along a hallway. The Roman Wall clock Ø29 cm has the presence to carry over distance, and it is still light enough for almost any wall.
• Read from a sofa, across a living room or up a stairwell. The Bankers Wall clock Ø48 cm was drawn for a bank hall, and it behaves like it: it reads from far away and holds a large expanse of wall on its own.

Before drilling, tape a paper circle of the exact diameter to the wall and look at it from where you sit most. A disc that seems too large up close often looks right from the sofa.

How high to hang the centre

Galleries traditionally hang pictures with their centre at around 145–160 cm from the floor, roughly standing eye height. That is a sound starting point for a clock on an open wall, in a hallway or on a landing, where people read it while walking past.

Three situations call for an adjustment.

• Above a sofa. Keep the lower edge of the clock clear of heads leaning back against the wall, and centre the clock on the sofa rather than on the wall. With a Ø48 cm Bankers, a gap of a hand's width or two between the sofa back and the case usually looks deliberate rather than squeezed.
• Above a desk. Hang lower, so the clock sits in your field of view when seated rather than above it. Leave room below for a desk lamp.
• Above a kitchen door. Here the centre will sit well above eye level by necessity. Leave a clear gap between the top of the architrave and the case so the clock reads as a separate object, and centre it on the door opening, not on the wall.

One practical limit applies everywhere: the movement runs on a battery, so the clock must come off the wall now and then. Hang it where you can reach it comfortably from the floor or a short step, and avoid placing it directly above a hob or a busy worktop where reaching up is awkward.

Fixing to plasterboard or brick

Before you buy screws, check the back of the clock and note exactly where the hanging point is in relation to the centre of the dial. Mark the wall from your chosen centre height using that offset, with a light pencil level line.

Plasterboard

The City Hall at 0.55 kg and the Station at 0.92 kg are light, and a good-quality plasterboard plug with a screw will hold either. The Roman at 1.35 kg is still modest, though a metal cavity anchor is worth the small extra effort, because a clock is touched every time the battery is changed and a soft plug can loosen over the years.

The Bankers is different. At 4.03 kg, hanging from a single point, it should not rely on a plastic plug in plasterboard. The best option is to find a timber or metal stud with a detector and screw into that. If the stud does not fall where the clock needs to go, use a spring toggle or a metal hollow-wall anchor that spreads the load behind the board, and follow the fixing manufacturer's stated load for that board thickness.

Brick and concrete

Solid walls are simpler. Drill with a masonry bit of the size the wall plug specifies, clear the dust from the hole, tap in the plug and drive the screw until only enough of the head projects to take the hanging point. In old brick, drill into the brick itself rather than the mortar joint, which can crumble. Any of the four clocks, the Bankers included, will hang securely this way.

Whatever the wall, leave the screw head standing proud by only a few millimetres. The aluminium case is designed to sit close to the wall and give that hovering effect, and a screw that projects too far tilts the clock forward.

Depth, doors and the room around the clock

Depth is easy to overlook. The City Hall projects 5 cm from the wall and the Bankers 7.8 cm. In a narrow hallway, beside a door that swings back against the wall, or next to a tall cupboard door, those few centimetres decide whether the clock gets knocked. Open every nearby door fully before marking the wall.

Give the clock space of its own. Jacobsen designed these dials to be read in public interiors with plenty of wall around them, and they look most like themselves with a clear margin rather than wedged between frames.

For care, a dry, soft cloth is all the mineral glass and aluminium need. In a kitchen, wipe the lens more often, since a film of cooking grease dulls the white dial faster than dust does.

A quick plan before you drill

1. Choose the diameter for the distance you will read it from, and test it with a paper template.
2. Set the centre height for the setting: around eye level on an open wall, lower above a desk, centred on the sofa or door below.
3. Check the wall type and pick the fixing for the weight, with particular care for the 4.03 kg Bankers on plasterboard.
4. Check door swings and depth, then mark, level and drill once.

To compare every size and series side by side, see the full Arne Jacobsen Clocks collection.