Archinect - News

3XN designs amphitheater-like venue for Baltimore’s waterfront

2023-11-03T12:42:00-04:00

3XN has unveiled its design for a new destination at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, holding a mixture of retail, hospitality, and public amenities located in a “market hall environment.”

The scheme draws inspiration from the sails dotting the city’s waterfront, with an architectural language that seeks to become a “natural extension of the waterfront and nestle into the existing architecture.”

Image credit: 3XN

A concave form of the building seeks to create an amphitheater-like space aided by public landscaped roof terraces while creating elevated views of the water.

Image credit: 3XN

The emphasis on external landscapes forms part of 3XN’s strategy for climate resilience, with landscaped elements doubling as stormwater management and flooding mitigation. The edges of the concave terraces are shaped to catch the prevailing wind, while the ground floor has been designed with anticipation for flooding, with the building itself imagined as “a community refuge during extreme heat and poor air q...

3XN shares new Copenhagen Children's Hospital images ahead of 2026 opening

2023-08-16T13:57:00-04:00

3XN has shared photos of their nearly complete Copenhagen Children’s Hospital project in the Danish capital.

Spanning 58,000 square meters (about 624,300 square feet), the design will yield a total of 219 beds for children, teens, and pregnant women, 15 operating rooms, 57 ambulatory care suites for children and adolescents, another 30 for adults, 14 delivery rooms, and a nuclear diagnostics center.

Once it opens early next year, the hospital will have a capacity for 900 persons in addition to 1,200 staff. The firm says its design is meant to harness the power of play as a palliative measure and will be completed at a cost of $350 million for its client, the Capital Region of Denmark.

Image: 3XN

Formed by two asterisk-shaped volumes meant to evoke the image of a pair of widespread hands connected together at the wrist plate, the bays inside the individual "fingers" in the design are bookended by winter gardens at the tips and share a central core reserved for family lounge...

3XN GXN and British Land share new transformation project of London's Euston Tower

2023-07-13T13:57:00-04:00

3XN GXN, alongside property development company British Land, has announced that they are leading the redevelopment of London’s Euston Tower. Built in 1970, the commercial high-rise was viewed as a cutting-edge office space. However, changing tenancy needs have seen a gradual reduction in its inhabitants, leading to the building’s vacancy in 2021.

The aim for the renewed Euston Tower is to transform it into a pioneering, welcoming, net-zero workspace in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. The project falls in line with the sustainability goals and expertise of British Land, the Greater London Authority and Borough of Camden, and 3XN GXN. As noted in a release, the joint vision for the project sets out to lead the way in low-carbon retrofit and construction techniques, as well as using inclusive design to support the workspaces and local community.

Image courtesy of 3XN GXN.

As stated by 3XN Senior Partner Audun Opdal, “We are proud to work on this highly progressive project and...

3XN tops out a modular timber office park for two robotics companies

2023-05-05T14:57:00-04:00

3XN is celebrating the topping out of Cobot Hub, a timber office park that will serve as the new joining home of robotics companies Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots A/S (MiR) in Odense, Denmark.

Photo by Rasmus Hjortshøj

The approximately 215,000-square-foot campus was designed to enhance collaboration and employee well-being while offering specialized environments that foster robotics research and development. It features open office layouts, along with common areas and amenity spaces where employees can interact informally. Increased visibility and transparency throughout the spaces that encourage social interaction were prioritized.

Photo by Rasmus Hjortshøj

Cobot Hub is composed of flexible, cubic modules that are tailored to the needs of the two companies. This approach allows the building to be scaled up or down according to future needs as certain parts of the structure and materials can be reshaped and reused. It is also primarily made of wood, allowing the...

Upcycled skyscraper earns 3XN a spot on Fast Company's 'world’s most innovative companies' list

2023-03-03T10:55:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based 3XN has been included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2023 list. The 50-company-strong list is described by Fast Company as the “definitive chronicle of the novel ideas transforming business and society,” ranging from ChatGPT creator OpenAI to the art collective Mschf.

Sitting at number 32 on the list, 3XN was included “for upcycling an aging skyscraper into a modern office building,” referencing their recently completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia. The 46-story tower has set a high-profile precedent for adaptive reuse and upcycling in tall buildings, with 65% of the original 1976 structure retained including 95% of its core.

Image credit: Phil Noller

“[Quay Quarter Tower] proves that even something as massive as an outdated office tower can be upcycled into something beautiful and relevant,” Fast Company said. “As a growing number of towers age in cities around the world 3XN’s innovative design presents a vision for how to implement a replica...

3XN and GXN offer insights into unique roof design behind Sydney Fish Market

2023-02-09T08:00:00-05:00

With construction underway on the 3XN-designed Sydney Fish Market in Australia, the firm has offered an insight into the design of the scheme’s defining roofscape. When completed, the 700,000-square-foot building will be the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere.

Image credit: 3XN

The building’s undulating roof is described by 3XN as “an integral aspect of the fish market’s iconic design” as well as being key to its overall sustainability strategy. Shaped to respond to the spatial demands of the market below, the roof is designed to harvest rainwater for reuse, protect retail spaces from the sun, and filter daylight through openings on the rooftop.

Image credit: 3XN

The shape of the roof was informed by the site’s prevailing winds, allowing the extraction of hot air while protecting users from southerly winds. Made from timber and aluminum, the roof is also designed to be as permeable as possible, minimizing the need for air conditioning while also deflecting direct sunlight....

3XN completes 'world’s largest upcycled tower' in Sydney

2022-11-18T11:07:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based studio 3XN has completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, described by the firm as the “world’s most comprehensive upcycling of an existing tower.” The scheme, which sees the retention and transformation of an existing 1970s tower near the city’s waterfront, was recently awarded the 2022 International High Rise Award for what the jury determined to be an “extraordinary combination of upcycling and densification.”

Situated on 50 Bridge Street, the project centers on the former AMP Centre, which, when constructed in 1976, was the tallest building in Sydney at 617 feet in height. The building’s transformation into the Quay Quarter Tower saw 3XN retain 65% of the original building’s structure, including beams, columns, and slabs, and 95% of its original core. In addition, new floorplates were added to the existing plates in order to double the usable area and increase the building’s capacity from 4,500 daily occupants to more than 10,000.

Image credit: Adam Mo...

3XN debuts an artistic mixed-use design for Paris’ stolid La Défense district

2022-10-28T15:38:00-04:00

3XN has officially debuted its first-ever French design just west of Paris’ La Défense business district in Nanterre.

Featuring a program that combines a traditional office and hotel accommodation through two separate volumes, joined along an east-west axis, that offer views of La Défense’s adjacent towers and Johan Otto von Spreckelsen’s monumental Grande Arche.

“As the first shape you encounter when arriving from La Défense, this building had to be eye-catching and dynamic,” 3XN Founding Partner Kim Herforth Nielsen explains. “The faceted façade and shifting volumes make it a standout in the busy district. The concept — two distinct but complementary designs — is unique in the area.”

Photo: Jared Chulski, courtesy 3XN.

The scheme makes use of semi-reflective aluminum panel cladding to distinguish the Hôtel OKKO as one unbroken massing, while its partner InDéfense office structure splits into smaller forms, extruding to “open the long and narrow si...

Design team selected for the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum

2020-11-30T11:22:00-05:00

3XN, B+H, and Zhubo Design were recently awarded first place in an international design competition for the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum, set to be the first large-scale comprehensive natural museum in Southern China once complete.

The new 42,000-square-meter museum will be dedicated to the interpretation and communication of the theories of natural evolution, showing the region of Shenzhen and its ecology in the larger context of the world.

The design scheme, entitled "Delta," organically emerges from the river delta that sits on the site, inviting visitors to traverse atop its accessible green roof. A public park expands throughout the roof and articulates the museum's organic form. The bending geometry leads museum-goers to a cave-inspired passage that connects to the museum lobby along with multiple cafes and public spaces.

Pritzker Prize Laureate Yvonne Farrell, Co-Founder of Grafton Architects and one of the judges for the competition, said of the proposal: "This buildi...

3XN unveils design for tallest timber office structure in North America

2019-03-26T09:12:00-04:00

Danish firm 3XN revealed their design for T3 Bayside, which will be the first office structure to emerge in Toronto's Bayside neighborhood. Once built, at 42 meters high, the 10-story structure would reportedly be the tallest timber office building in North America. Currently in design development, the project is part of a 2,000-acre revitalization initiative that will transform the Toronto waterfront.

Exterior. Credit: 3XN.

Built using sustainable Cross Laminated Timber, T3 Bayside's two wooden buildings were designed to complement and activate its surrounding live-work-play neighborhood. Retail spaces will be located on all sides and a new central plaza will be surrounded by stepped community and shared spaces like galleries, flexible offices, and coworking facilities.

“Located along Queens Quay East and flanked by Merchant's Wharf, T3 Bayside presents an opportunity to enhance and enforce the existing master plan on multiple levels. Through a series of stepped roof terraces, the b...

Sydney's famous fish market reveals new design by Danish firm 3XN

2018-11-06T15:58:00-05:00

Sydney's Fish Market will undergo a $250 million expansion designed by the renowned Danish firm 3XN. As part of the city's plan to revitalize the harbor, the iconic attraction will be relocated to Blackwattle Bay, where it will provide greater public access to the city's prime waterfront.

Currently, the Sydney Fish Market brings in more annual visitors than the Great Barrier Reef and accounts for more than 20% of international visitors to the Sydney area. The new cultural facility will help the attraction become more community oriented, providing improved public space, dining options, and transport connectivity.

The upgraded market will host a seafood cooking school, restaurants, bars, new public wharves, a waterfront promenade, and a new ferry stop. Working with with local architect BVN, GXN Innovation, and landscape architect Aspect Studios, the project will also provide improved facilities for the city's fishers and fishmongers, as the original center was beginning to show signs ...

3XN to design new arena in the heart of richly historic Bergen, Norway

2018-08-31T20:22:00-04:00

3XN was put in charge of designing a new arena and masterplan in Norway's historic port city of Bergen. Located in central Bergen's Nygardstangen district, the arena will be a catalyst to revamp the area, which has long been disconnected with the rest of the city and its waterfront.

Nygårdstangen Utvikling — a consortium comprising of Olav Thon, EDG Property, and Rexir — appointed 3XN for the project. The Copenhagen-based firm will work with GXN and Arup on a design that will revive the area while remain considerate of its historic surroundings and UNESCO heritage sites. Opus Bergen will lead a feasibility study of the area.

Image courtesy of 3XN.

3XN hasn't revealed too many project details and only a few renderings, but so far, the urban arena masterplan will include new housing, hotel, cinema, and a police academy, and will connect to surrounding districts via public plazas and vibrant street scapes.

“In developing this new arena, we considered the character...

3XN + Gerner Gerner Plus propose undulating aquarium at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo

2018-04-25T15:04:00-04:00

3XN and Austrian firm GERNER GERNER PLUS unveiled a new aquarium scheme titled “Poseidon's Realm”, which won second place in an international competition of the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna (A winner is yet to be announced). Working with aquarium specialists ATT, the team designed the aquarium with an undulating silhouette so that it appears like “a great, mysterious veil” across the zoo's landscape.

Image © 3XN.

Covering 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq.ft), the building is divided into four levels and topped with a green roof that is embedded within the zoo's path network — plus, the roof houses a bearded vulture aviary.

The aquarium features a glazed, wave-shaped welcome entrance that leads visitors into a “waterworld” tour. Changing temperatures, ambient sounds, lighting, and ceiling heights add to the experience. The main path widens into smaller bays that lead to individual tanks, creating a more intimate experience between visitors and aquatic life. At the end of the tour is a gi...

3XN Designs Sydney High Rise

2014-09-25T12:34:00-04:00

AMP Capital has named 3XN as the architect for the 49-story, 102,000sm 50 Bridge Street tower and master plan for the Quay Quarter Sydney (QQS) precinct. 3XN was selected via a multi-stage international competition, the fourth it has won this year, which included two Prtizker Architecture Prize-winning firms. Construction on this important new addition to the Sydney skyline is slated to begin in 2018.

The 50 Bridge Street "Quay Quarter Tower" represents the first major project designed by a Danish architect in Sydney since Jørn Utzon designed the landmark Opera House in 1973,

3XN's innovative design, already well-received by the community, will revitalize AMP Capital-s site, located close to the Opera House, into a vibrant destination for international and local businesses. The bold new tower will engage in an open dialogue with the skyline while also integrating itself into community life at the street level.

Louise Mason, AMP Capital Managing Director Office & Industrial, said, "AMP ...

3xn to design the new International Olympic Committee HQ in Lausanne

2014-04-22T18:12:00-04:00

3xn was chosen by the International Olympic Committee as the architectural partner to design the new IOC Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC selected the Danish firm after a collective decision by the IOC Architecture College during a March 25 meeting... The design for the new headquarters will be revealed at a later date arranged by the IOC.

The winning concept for the IOC Headquarters will be located on a 24,000 square meter site on the banks of Lake Geneva providing an ‘Olympic campus’ of administrative buildings for 500 employees. 3xn has worked continuously on their proposal since last July when they were shortlisted with 12 international all-star practices.

Head over to Bustler for more info.

3XN to Design University Building in Stuttgart, Germany

2013-07-10T16:21:00-04:00

[...] the Danish architects have been announced winners of the invited competition for a new building for German university Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart. A total of 25 companies were invited to compete, more than 130 had applied for prequalification.

3XN-Designed UN City in Copenhagen Inaugurated

2013-07-03T18:38:00-04:00

The new regional head office of the United Nations in Copenhagen, designed by 3XN, has just been inaugurated. Check out the very impressive sculptural staircase in its core which, according to the architects, is designed to reflect the UN’s work to create global dialogue.

3XN-Designed ‘The Blue Planet’ about to Open as Northern Europe’s Largest Aquarium

2013-03-20T14:39:00-04:00

Back in July of 2008, we reported that 3XN had won the international design competition for Denmark's new The Blue Planet aquarium with an exciting whirlpool-shaped proposal right outside of Copenhagen. Now the inauguration day of the completed building has come, and the $127M-aquarium will officially open to the public this Friday, March 22.

3XN Completes ‘Plassen’ Cultural Center in Molde, Norway

2012-10-01T15:12:00-04:00

The small city of Molde in Western Norway recently gained one more architectural attraction: the new cultural center, 'Plassen', designed by Danish 3XN.

3XN’s ‘The Arch’ Cultural Center Opens in Mandal, Norway

2012-05-03T13:53:00-04:00

The Arch, a new cultural center in the small southern Norwegian town Mandal has officially opened to the public this April. Designed by Danish practice 3XN, construction had commenced in December 2009 and was completed in December 2011.

3XN to Design Uppsala University Building

2012-02-24T12:50:00-05:00

Danish firm 3XN has won the architecture competition for a university building in Uppsala, Sweden. The new structure unites the past and the future by extending the lines from the historical surroundings into an innovative building pointing towards future study and work life.

3XN-Designed Museum of Liverpool to Launch July 19th

2011-07-14T14:22:00-04:00

The new Museum of Liverpool, designed by Copenhagen-based 3XN, will open its doors to the public next week Tuesday, July 19. The dynamic low-rise structure is the largest National Museum to be built in the UK in over 100 years and is situated on a UNESCO World Heritage Site next to Liverpool’s famous ’Three Graces’.

Middelfart Savings Bank by 3XN

2011-05-26T21:41:00-04:00

Last week, we published the winners of the 2011 RIBA Awards, as well as the RIBA International Awards, presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects for architectural excellence in the UK and abroad. The 3XN-designed Middelfart Savings Bank in Denmark was one of the eight buildings honored in the European Union award category.

3XN’s Bella Sky Hotel Opens Today as the New Nordic Home

2011-05-16T16:57:00-04:00

If you're in Copenhagen these days, make sure to swing by the brand-new Bella Sky Hotel in Ørestad which was officially opened today by Danish Minister of Economic and Business Affairs, Brian Mikkelsen and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen. Last week, we already posted first photos of the newly completed hotel exterior, today, we can also give you an insight view of what 3XN designed to impress arriving guests as a tasteful and warm Scandinavian home.

3XN-Designed Bella Sky Hotel Opens in Copenhagen Next Week

2011-05-11T14:49:00-04:00

Copenhagen's Bella Sky hotel, the largest hotel in Scandinavia, is scheduled to officially open next Monday, May 16. The hotel, designed by Danish studio 3XN, tries to become a new landmark on the Copenhagen skyline, symbolizing the identity of the modern Ørestad area, and also marking the capital’s increasing importance on the international convention and congress scene.

3XN’s Bella Chandelier Is Ready for Installation

2011-04-18T13:44:00-04:00

When the Bella Sky Hotel, the largest hotel in Scandinavia, launches in Copenhagen May 16, guests are greeted in the foyer by The Bella Chandelier – a living scenography of light and color created by GXN, the R&D department of Danish architects 3XN.

Archinect - News

3XN designs amphitheater-like venue for Baltimore’s waterfront

3XN shares new Copenhagen Children's Hospital images ahead of 2026 opening

3XN GXN and British Land share new transformation project of London's Euston Tower

3XN tops out a modular timber office park for two robotics companies

Upcycled skyscraper earns 3XN a spot on Fast Company's 'world’s most innovative companies' list

3XN and GXN offer insights into unique roof design behind Sydney Fish Market

3XN completes 'world’s largest upcycled tower' in Sydney

3XN debuts an artistic mixed-use design for Paris’ stolid La Défense district

Design team selected for the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum

3XN unveils design for ​tallest timber office structure​ in North America

Sydney's famous fish market reveals new design by Danish firm 3XN

3XN to design new arena in the heart of richly historic Bergen, Norway

3XN + Gerner Gerner Plus propose undulating aquarium at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo

3XN Designs Sydney High Rise

3xn to design the new International Olympic Committee HQ in Lausanne

3XN to Design University Building in Stuttgart, Germany

3XN-Designed UN City in Copenhagen Inaugurated

3XN-Designed ‘The Blue Planet’ about to Open as Northern Europe’s Largest Aquarium

3XN Completes ‘Plassen’ Cultural Center in Molde, Norway

3XN’s ‘The Arch’ Cultural Center Opens in Mandal, Norway

3XN to Design Uppsala University Building

3XN-Designed Museum of Liverpool to Launch July 19th

Middelfart Savings Bank by 3XN

3XN’s Bella Sky Hotel Opens Today as the New Nordic Home

3XN-Designed Bella Sky Hotel Opens in Copenhagen Next Week

3XN’s Bella Chandelier Is Ready for Installation

3XN unveils design for tallest timber office structure in North America