Archinect - News

New Beijing Performing Arts Center rises from its historic waterside site with curtain-like forms

2024-09-11T16:40:00-04:00

A new performing arts complex designed by Perkins&Will, in partnership with Schmidt Hammer Lassen, has opened in Beijing. Located in the city’s southeast district, Tongzhou, the Beijing Performing Arts Center sits along the banks of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, anchoring a recently designated cultural district, which also includes a museum, a library, and extensive parklands.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The roughly 1.3 million-square-foot complex comprises an opera house, a theater, and a concert hall, along with a multipurpose hall and an outdoor stage.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

Its design recalls the site’s history as a commercial shipping and storage hub by referencing the rooflines of the storehouses that formerly populated the area and the sails of traditional canal boats. The forms also evoke a theater curtain parting at the start of a performance.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The Center’s structures are unified through a broad, elevated platform that can be accessed from ...

MVRDV begins construction on overhaul of old Shanghai cement factory

2024-02-12T11:16:00-05:00

A team led by MVRDV has begun construction on a leisure and cultural district in Shanghai on the site of a disused cement factory. Named Gate M West Bund Dream Center, the project will transform a collection of buildings of different styles and time periods, “adapting a former industrial zone while making use of the existing structures and thus minimizing carbon emissions,” according to the team.

Image credit: Ucharm

Under the MVRDV scheme, developed with co-architect AISA, landscape architect Field Operations, and interior architects CL3 and Xu Studio, a series of disused buildings will be linked in a “cohesive whole” by a network of bright orange paths, stairs, ramps, and bridges. The site is organized around key landscaped axes including a central spine linking both ends of the district, while a “three-dimensional promenade” is created by a series of landscaped rooftops, elevated riverbank terraces, and a network of staircases and elevators finished in a defining orange color.

Ima...

Perkins&Will begins construction on mass timber gateway to University of British Columbia campus

2023-01-04T11:15:00-05:00

Construction is underway on the $180 million Gateway Building at the University of British Columbia, designed by Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Intended as a “principal point of entry” to the UBC campus, the design of the six-story, 267,000-square-foot mass timber building seeks to balance sustainability, personal well-being, and Indigenous collaboration.

Image credit: Perkins&Will

The scheme comprises two five-story wings connected by a central naturally-lit six-story atrium, which includes a large interconnecting staircase and lounging spaces. The building’s mass timber structure is fully expressed in the interior; a decision driven by the importance of timber for the Indigenous Musqueam people on whose territory the UBC campus sits.

Image credit: Perkins&Will

“This was the first capital project where we did what we call ‘deep engagement’ with the Musqueam,” UBC’s director of planning and design Gerry McGeough told Canada’s Journal of Commerce. “We went through a whole seri...

Explore Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects' new Shanghai Library East, one of the largest libraries in the world

2022-10-04T16:50:00-04:00

A massive cultural project from Perkins&Will’s Danish affiliate Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL) has just debuted in Shanghai. The project provides the city with a "new civic landmark" in the form of what is now one of the largest contemporary libraries in the world.

The form and materiality of the new Shanghai Library East is inspired by ancient Chinese scholars’ Taihu stones and has the capacity to support 4 million visitors and more than 1,200 lectures, seminars, performances, and events annually. Its design is responsive to the changing role modern libraries have in society and boasts that a total of 80% of its space is dedicated to community-enhancing activities.

Image © RawVision.

In October 2017, a year after SHL had won the international competition bid to design the Shanghai East Library, Archienct reported that the project held its official groundbreaking ceremony on September 27, 2017. Five years later, the library opened its doors to the community.

Chris Hardie, de...

An architect will generate carbon emissions equal to the lifetime emissions of 162 typical Americans, according to COP26 talk

2021-11-12T17:20:00-05:00

An architect who creates just three typical buildings over their career will be responsible for carbon emissions equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 162 typical Americans, the COP26 summit in Glasgow has been told

During a talk on “Adaptive Transformation” at the Danish Pavilion at COP26, Enlai Hooi, who works as the Head of Innovation at Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects in Copenhagen, said that professionals in the building industry carry a far greater responsibility for the world’s health than other individuals. Hooi referenced The Architects’ Journal’s RetroFirst campaign, an initiative that advocates for retrofitting existing buildings over demolition and rebuilding, calling for government reforms in taxation, policy, and procurement.

This is especially important as Hooi pointed out that prevailing building culture and methods make the adaptation and reuse of existing buildings seem riskier to developers and investors.

“What if we focused instead [of new build] on transitioning our existing buildings into an appropriate architecture for the future and reducing what we build new?,” Hooi said.

“We have an obligation as architects to ask: what qualities exist in the [existing] building?” ...

Perkins and Will-led team develops COVID-19 mobile testing labs for under-served populations

2020-05-15T13:33:00-04:00

In response to the urgent need for more widespread and rapid COVID-19 testing, Perkins and Will's New York studio — along with its Denmark studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, and in partnership with multi-disciplinary design group Arup— has designed a plan to retrofit out-of-use school buses into mobile testing labs.

As insufficient testing remains a high concern for health professionals, lower-income, under-served, and homeless populations around the world have been significantly impacted by the pandemic and face disproportionate barriers to treatment and testing. The project team for this new initiative believes mobile testing labs will help tackle the existing inequities for these communities.

"While no one is immune to the COVID-19 virus, testing and treatment is not a level playing field. It is the under-served communities, including lower-income and homeless populations, that need our urgent help at this time," said Mariana Giraldo, architect and strategic planning speci...

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects completes an earthquake-resistant library in Christchurch, NZ

2018-10-16T18:24:00-04:00

After a series of earthquakes left New Zealand's second largest city badly damaged, a new city has begun to gradually emerge. The city of Christchurch, NZ has spent the following years working on a major rebuilding phase, that includes the recently opened $92 million central library designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

Photography by Adam Mørk.

The Tūranga public library is one of a number of government lead anchor projects intended to spark growth and bring people back into the central city. Its opening weekend saw nearly 13,000 visitors turning out for a first look.

"The new central library is a visually stunning symbol of hope, unity, and rebirth that will fundamentally change the way residents and visitors experience Christchurch’s city centre" said the architects. The five-story building took two-and-a-half years to complete and is now the largest library in the South Island.

Photography by Adam Mørk.

The Danish architects collaborated with local firm Architectus as well...

Automotive showroom by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects unifies car and home

2018-03-01T10:43:00-05:00

Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has completed the first phase of NIO House, an unconventional showroom for electric car company NIO in Shanghai.

NIO House by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects located in Shanghai. Image: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

The firm utilizes materials such as satin stainless steel, Douglas fir, terrazzo, and fabrics to further NIO's message of the car as an extension of the home. NIO House is part of the company's design-centric concept bringing home and car together in the showroom itself.

NIO House by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects located in Shanghai. Image: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

The car manufacturer’s ES8 and EP9 models are on display in an environment that allows the consumer to understand and exper...

Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen merges with Perkins+Will

2018-01-24T13:29:00-05:00

Perkins+Will has announced that it will be merging with the Copenhagen-based firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects; the two have been in negotiation since summer of 2017. The former aims to diversify its global talent, expand its cultural and civic practice, and reinforce the caliber of its design portfolio, while the latter aims to expand into new geographic markets, grow its client base, and apply groundbreaking design research to practice.

International Criminal Court Building. Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Photo by Adam Mørk.

Katuaq Cultural Center. Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Photo by Adam Mørk.

Since its founding in 1986, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has become one of Denmark's largest architectural firms and is best known for their highly sustainable cultural and civic architecture, particularly libraries. Some of their best known works include the 1999 extension of the Copenhagen Royal Library, the International Criminal Court building in The Hague, and the 2013 RIBA award–winning Uni...

University of Bristol appoints Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Hawkins\Brown, and BuroHappold for new University Library

2017-12-11T11:49:00-05:00

The University of Bristol, in the South West of England, is set to recieve a new £80 million library development on its Clifton campus by 2021. The team for the project is formed of Hawkins\Brown, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and BuroHappold. The architect-led team has extensive previous experience in the education sector and libraries, including the new Bartlett building, the Sir Duncan Rice Library, and the University of Exeter’s Forum respectively.

Image: University of Bristol

The contemporary design was selected from international competition entries, beating submissions from AHMM, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Atkins with Snøhetta. The design was commended for its acknowledgement of context; it takes into account the conservation setting and builds on the university’s high sustainability standards and goals.

The building will form a welcoming gate into the Clifton campus, which will be rejuvenated and redeveloped over the coming 5 years, e...

James Turrell and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects design new galleries for the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum

2017-10-10T13:10:00-04:00

ARoS Aarhus Art Museum’s new additions will be typical of James Turrell’s approach, relying on light to guide visitors around the galleries and exhibition spaces. The rooms lie almost 120 metres beneath the surface, and are invisible from above ground.

Artist James Turrell with model of the dome. Courtesy ARoS Aarhus Art Museum and Schmidt Hammer Lassen

Artist James Turrell partnered with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects on an extension project for the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Copenhagen. The new galleries and installations will include several additional rooms and a 40m wide dome.

Courtesy ARoS Aarhus Art Museum and Schmidt Hammer Lassen

A new tower is coming to downtown Detroit

2017-08-24T18:38:00-04:00

The project, at the cost of more than $800 million, is set to break ground in early 2018 and transform a mostly vacant two-square-block area bounded by Monroe, Bates, Cadillac Square and Randolph. The project will include 818,000-square-feet of office space, 170,000-square-feet of retail space and 482 residential units. Original plans called for a 20-story office tower, but the latest details show plans for 35 stories.

Bedrock released new renderings of the Monroe Blocks project in downtown Detroit, which will include a 35-story office tower fronting Campus Martius. Described by the developer as “Detroit’s first high-rise office tower in a generation with over 480 residential units, full of public spaces and pedestrian walkways,” the project was designed by Neumann/Smith Architecture and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

Aerial view. Image courtesy of Bedrock Detroit.

The construction work is planned to begin in early 2018 and be completed by 2022.

schmidt hammer lassen's State Library Victoria 2020 redesign

2017-03-31T19:43:00-04:00

It's been almost a year since schmidt hammer lassen and Architectus' team won the competition to redevelop the State Library Victoria in Melbourne, Australia's oldest and busiest public institution...‘Our concept provides a strong 'design line' that will act as a framework to guide present and future works,’ Morgen Schmidt says.

Courtesy of schmidt hammer lassen.

First theater to be built outside of Copenhagen in over a century opens in Denmark

2017-03-27T15:03:00-04:00

One of the oldest towns in Denmark, Hjørring, has just received a brand new theater - the first to be built outside the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in over a century. Designed by the democratic architecture practice Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, the 4,200 m2 cultural facility hosts a Music hall, Black Box, Rehearsal hall and 430-seat flexible hall including an “in-the-round” theater. As a multifunctional complex, the building also houses offices, a spacious lobby area, a café and backstage area with workshop and dressing rooms. The small town with a population of 25,000 has been growing in recent years and the architects are hoping the new Vendsyssel Theater will become a dynamo for the entire region’s cultural life. This wish is already shaping up to be true as the theater premiered to an entirely sold out season.

From the architects:

The building appears as a composition of cubic blocks. The warm rusty red corten steel facades correspond with its surroundings during the day, ...

schmidt hammer lassen architects to design new Island School in Hong Kong

2014-01-22T17:44:00-05:00

Designing the new Island School in Hong Kong is the latest competition win for schmidt hammer lassen architects. Project client English Schools Foundation selected the Danish firm and Hong Kong-based Thomas Chow Architects as the winning team to build a new 28,000-sq.meter learning facility for the school's estimated 1,200 students.

Find more details on the project on Bustler.

schmidt hammer lassen to design new Ningbo Central Library in Ningbo, China

2013-12-09T21:04:00-05:00

schmidt hammer lassen has been chosen to design the new 30,000 m2 Ningbo Central Library in the coastal city of Ningbo, China. shl's winning design will display the library's collection of more than 2 million books — including the largest number of historic and ancient books in Ningbo, one of China's oldest cities.

Head over to Bustler for more.

schmidt hammer lassen to design Vendsyssel Theater and Experience Center in Hjørring, Denmark

2013-11-18T12:56:00-05:00

schmidt hammer lassen architects recently announced winning the competition to design the Vendsyssel Theater and Experience Center, a 4,200 m2 culture facility to be built in Hjørring, Denmark. Along with the Danish firm, the winning interdisciplinary team included Arkitektfirmaet Finn Østergaard, Brix & Kamp, ALECTIA, Gade & Mortensen Akustik, AIX Arkitekter, Filippa Berglund scenography, and LIW Planning.

Images courtesy of schmidt hammer lassen architects.

The Cloud pavilion by schmidt hammer lassen architects opens at Shanghai West Bund Biennial

2013-10-28T19:47:00-04:00

The Cloud pavilion is a public art installation by schmidt hammer lassen architects that opened last week at the Shanghai West Bund Biennial for Architecture and Contemporary Art [...] Additionally, schmidt hammer lassen built support facility pavilions that include a gallery, café, and bookshop.

schmidt hammer lassen Breaks Ground on Green Valley Project in Shanghai

2013-06-03T14:33:00-04:00

Danish schmidt hammer lassen architects together with local architects East China Architecture and Design Institute, and Shanghai Expo Construction Development Company last week celebrated the ground breaking for, and start of construction of, the new Green Valley project on the site of the former 2010 Shanghai Expo.

schmidt hammer lassen + Friis & Moltke to Design Correctional Facility in Greenland

2013-05-21T17:40:00-04:00

schmidt hammer lassen architects, in collaboration with fellow Danish architects Friis & Moltke, landscape architects Møller & Grønborg and contractor Rambøll A/S, has won the competition to design the correctional facility Ny Anstalt in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. This is the first such facility in Greenland.

schmidt hammer lassen-Designed International Criminal Court Breaks Ground in The Hague

2013-04-17T18:47:00-04:00

The groundbreaking ceremony for the first permanent premises of the International Criminal Court [...] took place yesterday, April 16, in The Hague, The Netherlands. The 54,500 sqm / 586,633 sq ft building complex designed by Danish schmidt hammer lassen architects is expected to be completed in the summer of 2015.

Cathedral of the Northern Lights inaugurated

2013-02-11T15:18:00-05:00

The new Cathedral of the Northern Lights, situated in the Norwegian town of Alta over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has just been inaugurated by the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit. The 154-foot-high cathedral, designed by Link Arkitektur in collaboration with schmidt hammer lassen architects and Haldde Arkitekter Inc., is perceived as a symbol and an architectural landmark for the entire area.

schmidt hammer lassen to Design New Cultural Center and Library in Karlshamn, Sweden

2013-01-25T13:50:00-05:00

schmidt hammer lassen architects has just won an international competition for the new Cultural Center and Library in the Swedish city of Karlshamn, designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof. The 5,000 square meter (53,820 sq ft) facility aims to be the city’s new meeting place and will house a library, an exhibition area, a movie theater, a tourist office, and a café.

Inauguration of schmidt hammer lassen’s IBC Innovation Factory

2012-12-06T14:09:00-05:00

schmidt hammer lassen architects just completed another building in Kolding, Denmark: The International Business College (IBC) Innovation Factory was officially inaugurated yesterday by the Prince Consort of Denmark. The 12,800 m2 (137,780 sq ft) educational building has gone through a total refurbishment and is designed to support new ways of learning.

schmidt hammer lassen architects to design office tower in Warsaw

2011-11-23T14:07:00-05:00

Danish practice schmidt hammer lassen architects has won the international architectural competition to design a 188 meter office tower in the financial district of central Warsaw, Poland. The 60,000 m2 high-rise building is to replace the existing ‘Ilmet’ building.

The Crystal Awarded with Emirates Glass LEAF Award for Best Structural Design 2011

2011-10-07T19:13:00-04:00

The Crystal, the new extension to the financial institution Nykredit in Copenhagen, Denmark, by schmidt hammer lassen architects, has won an Emirates Glass LEAF Award in the category ‘Best Structural Design of the Year’ 2011. [...] The Crystal is sited northwest of the existing Nykredit Headquarters, called the Glass Cube, on the edge of the new waterfront and the historic Copenhagen.

Archinect - News

New Beijing Performing Arts Center rises from its historic waterside site with curtain-like forms

MVRDV begins construction on overhaul of old Shanghai cement factory

Perkins&Will begins construction on mass timber gateway to University of British Columbia campus

Explore Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects' new Shanghai Library East, one of the largest libraries in the world

An architect will generate carbon emissions equal to the lifetime emissions of 162 typical Americans, according to COP26 talk

Perkins and Will-led team develops COVID-19 mobile testing labs for under-served populations

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects completes an earthquake-resistant library in Christchurch, NZ

Automotive showroom by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects unifies car and home

Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen merges with Perkins+Will

University of Bristol appoints Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Hawkins\Brown, and BuroHappold for new University Library

James Turrell and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects​ design new galleries for the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum​

A new tower is coming to downtown Detroit

schmidt hammer lassen's State Library Victoria 2020 redesign

First theater to be built outside of Copenhagen in over a century opens in Denmark

schmidt hammer lassen architects to design new Island School in Hong Kong

schmidt hammer lassen to design new Ningbo Central Library in Ningbo, China

schmidt hammer lassen to design Vendsyssel Theater and Experience Center in Hjørring, Denmark

The Cloud pavilion by schmidt hammer lassen architects opens at Shanghai West Bund Biennial

schmidt hammer lassen Breaks Ground on Green Valley Project in Shanghai

schmidt hammer lassen + Friis & Moltke to Design Correctional Facility in Greenland

schmidt hammer lassen-Designed International Criminal Court Breaks Ground in The Hague

Cathedral of the Northern Lights inaugurated

schmidt hammer lassen to Design New Cultural Center and Library in Karlshamn, Sweden

Inauguration of schmidt hammer lassen’s IBC Innovation Factory

schmidt hammer lassen architects to design office tower in Warsaw

The Crystal Awarded with Emirates Glass LEAF Award for Best Structural Design 2011

James Turrell and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects design new galleries for the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum