With more than 30 years of experience, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects is one of Scandinavia’s most recognized and award-winning architectural practices.

Working out of studios located in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Shanghai, we provide skilled architectural services all over the world, with a distinguished track record as designers of international high-profile architecture. We are deeply committed to the Nordic architectural traditions based on democracy, welfare, aesthetics, light, sustainability and social responsibility.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen was founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 1986 by architects Morten Schmidt, Bjarne Hammer and John F. Lassen.

People/Places

Our permanent staff consists of a dedicated, experienced and well-trained team of architects, planners, design engineers, drafters, model makers, interior architects, multimedia designers, graphic artists and administrative staff.

Over time, we have learnt the importance of being physically present where we create buildings. We have two offices in Denmark and one in Shanghai. In addition, we have small offices on site. We do so, because we believe in being present and solving day-to-day problems, including dealing with the local authorities, contractors, consultants and architects.

Our Work

Cultural and educational buildings, offices, commercial, retail and residential, often in mixed-use developments and complex urban contexts, are cornerstones of our output. Most projects span every aspect of scale from interior design to concept plans and masterplans – from detailing, to urban development and landscape.

The practice has extensive global experience in the design of libraries and other public and cultural landmark buildings including the Katuaq Cultural Centre of Greenland in Nuuk (1997), the extension to the Royal Library in Copenhagen (1999), ARoS Museum of Art in Aarhus (2004), Halifax Central Library in Canada (2015) and the largest public library in Scandinavia, Dokk1 in Aarhus (2015). Aside cultural buildings, our works have a democratic approach to architecture creating modern, open and multi-functional spaces such as The International Criminal Court in The Hague (2016) We pride ourselves on projects which interact with their urban context placing particular emphasis on the surroundings and social context like Malmö Live, a Concert/Congress/Hotel centre in Sweden (2015), Ningbo Home of Staff in China (2018) and Christchurch Central Library in New Zealand (2018).

Schmidt Hammer Lassen is known as a company that is both design-driven and client-focused; a firm that produces extraordinary designs and delivers them with extraordinary efficiency. Merging with Perkins&Will enables us to maintain this critical part of our identity while having the support, technology, and reach of a much larger organization. The shared Perkins&Will global platform provides a host of additional benefits to current and future international clients that now have world-class talent, expertise, and research within a single high-design firm.

What makes this partnership so special is Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s common set of values: design excellence, sustainability, innovation, and the highest level of client service. We also maintain the same shared design ethos, believing that exceptional architecture is always democratic and in the service of the greater good. We are compatible at every level. Working together, we are two global design leaders collaborating as one firm—a seamlessly integrated team.