08.07.2021
29.06.2021
04.05.2021
19.03.2021
24.02.2021
09.12.2020
08.12.2020
05.12.2020
04.12.2020
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects’ first completed library project in China—Ningbo New Library, is China’s first library to be nominated for International Federation of Library Associations’ (IFLA) “Public Library of the Year”.
This is the third time the work of SHL has been nominated for the “Public Library of the Year” by IFLA. In 2016, SHL’s Dokk1 in Aarhus, Denmark won the award; In 2019, Tūranga, Christchurch Central Library in New Zealand, was nominated; this year, the Ningbo New Library won the favor of the judges again.
2021 IFLA “Public Library of the Year” award is exceptionally competitive. Affected by the epidemic, IFLA cancelled the award in 2020. This year, IFLA celebrates libraries built both in 2019 and 2020. The jury has narrowed 32 libraries down to five nominees in the quest for this year’s winner. The other four finalists come from very different parts of the world, including Marrickville Library (Australia), Oslo Public Library (Norway), Het Predikheren (Belgium), Forum Groningen (Holland). Nominated libraries are distinguished by sustainable recycling of materials, natural daylight incorporated into the buildings, and many unique, architectural details. The winner will be announced in August 2021.
To know more about 2021 IFLA ”Public Library of the Year” award, please click here.
As our fifth Canadian project, the Gateway building at the historic entrance to the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus will reflect UBC’s reputation as a world-class university. Designed in collaboration with Perkins&Will, the 25,000-square-metre health science academic and research building will symbolize the university’s commitments and transform the arrival experience for students, staff, and visitors.
Targeting completion in 2024, the building integrates the university’s commitments to supporting inclusivity and health and well-being. The design considers diverse needs by incorporating clear and accessible circulation paths, inclusive washrooms, and comfortable spaces open to the public. A central daylight-filled six-story atrium with large interconnecting stairs reaching from the basement to the upper floors encourages physical activity. Acting on UBC’s commitment to Indigenous reconciliation, the project takes inspiration from traditional Musqueam building materials and considers site-specific ecology.
The Gateway building also embodies UBC’s sustainability goals, aiming to be the university’s first to meet the Canada Green Building Council’s (CaGBC) Zero Carbon Building Standard. The structure incorporates passive design strategies such as a high-performance envelope, high-efficiency mechanical systems, and reduced embodied carbon.
In response to COVID-19, our Head of Innovation, Enlai Hooi, teamed up with colleagues from Perkins&Will and Arup pursuing the delivery of safe, equitable, and accessible healthcare to underserved communities in New York.
When the mobile testing unit was first launched in April 2020, global cases of COVID-19 had already reached 1.3 million and continued to grow. As more of the US population was exposed to the virus, the CDC indicated there would be increased instances of community spread, leading to elevated rates of hospitalizations that caused a devastating strain on an already overloaded healthcare system. Experts agreed that our public response relied heavily on how quickly and thoroughly countries could implement widespread testing as a key measure to trace and control the spread of the virus.
The team responded to the challenge of the pandemic by mobilizing New York City’s 9,500 idle school buses to provide urgent COVID-19 testing in underserved communities experiencing outbreaks.
Primarily based in New York, the team identified five key parameters that define the success of the testing process: mobility, accessibility, speed, flexibility, ease of implementation and scalability. Under this framework, they created a two-part solution that would have retrofitted school buses into on-the-go testing centers and deployed portable, folding, “pop-up” care booths for healthcare workers to engage with community members in a safe, meaningful way.
These design solutions are easily replicated across the world as a low-tech, DIY system that can be quickly adopted by underserved communities, enhancing equity, empathy, and public safety. These deployable healthcare units respond in real-time, gathering essential geolocation and test-result data, allowing a real-time data feedback loop to help authorities with strategic decision-making.
We are very proud that this project received an honorable mention from Fast Company. You can read more about the project here.
Together with local architect firm Hawkins\Brown, we’ve designed the New University Library for the University of Bristol. The University submitted its planning application to Bristol City Council in January 2020 following an extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholder groups including staff, students, local residents and neighbors, the wider community, and Bristol City Council.
The new university library provides a bridge between the scale of neighboring Victorian villas and the form of Senate House. The design concept has taken the module of the villas and stacked, twisted, and developed the shape and scale to create a building that matches Senate House in height and status. The resulting interplay of spaces sets up a dialogue between the new university library and the city.
The University of Bristol’s landmark new library will transform the heart of its Clifton campus and provide an architecturally significant new building for the city.
The library will accommodate learning and research space with capacity for 2,000 new study seats, 420,000 books, and 70,000 journals. The library forms a key part of the university’s vision and strategy for transforming the Clifton campus, which includes providing new and enhanced facilities, improvements to public spaces, and creating a welcoming heart to the university for students, staff, and the community at large. The upper floors will be open to staff and students for study and research whilst the ground floor will be open to everyone, with access to exhibition galleries, events spaces, a program of new public art commissions and a café.
The library has been designed to achieve a BREEAM “Excellent” rating.
Read more about the project here.
China Mobile Yangtze River Delta (Nanjing) Technology Innovation Center in Nanjing, China has broken ground on January 19th. In collaboration with Perkins&Will we won the design of the masterplan, architecture, interior, and landscape scheme for the entire innovation park, marking Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects third cooperation with China Mobile.
Situated at the heart of Jiangbei District of Nanjing, China Mobile Yangtze River Delta (Nanjing) Technology Innovation Center covers an area of 41 acres. It will become an incubator for the research of 6G communication, intelligent connections, intelligent hardware, chip module, IoT, blockchain, machine intelligence, AI, digital content, and other innovative industries. The project includes several mixed-use office buildings, two R&D buildings as cloud computing labs, and additions.
Inspired by the city’s magnificent ancient walls and overhang roofs, the architecture contains solid bases representing both China Mobile and Nanjing’s traditions as well as offering flexible office space that symbolizes China Mobile IoT industry park’s prospect.
Together with landscape architects BOGL, we aim to design a new district which will attract new residents and activity to the city of Albertslund. Driving west of the city, just 15 kilometres from central Copenhagen, a site with a former correctional facility and a stretch of other historical buildings along the area emerge. The site has for many years been a closed enclave, and the aim is, therefore, to open up the area towards the city.
Vridsløselille, a 160,000-square-metre district, will become a natural extension of Albertslund and its main thoroughfares. The flexible scheme will draw city life to the area where green parks and residential complexes are intertwined creating a strong synergy while making way for a variety of building typologies, urban qualities and common facilities. The new urban area will create new connections and destinations in Albertslund, focused on creating activated green spaces, urban farming as well as movement and sports facilities. Important connections, sightlines, and local identity will be maintained and enhanced. The main focus is laying the foundation for a healthy and social lifestyle with a broad spectrum of common areas and green spaces.
Ahead are several years of close cooperation with Freja Ejendomme and The Municipality of Albertslund until local plans are approved. Architectural studio COBE is the other team selected for Vridsløselille’s redevelopment. For more information (in Danish), visit Freja Ejendomme.
You can also read more about our scheme for Vridsløselille here.
On December 9, Head of Workplace Strategy Helle Nøhr Holmstrøm will be speaking at “Facilities for future workplaces” (Faciliteter til fremtiden arbejdsplads), an event part of Dansk Facilities Management’s online seminar.
Helle will talk about how COVID-19 affects the way our workplaces and their facilities will look like in the future due to an increased need for flexibility. With her many years of experience within space planning and workplace strategy, Helle is focused on the constellation of people, strategy, and place as prerequisites for creating well-being, efficiency, and healthy workflows for businesses of all sizes.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the seminar will be held online from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (CET). Find more information, registration and the full program here.
Photo by Laura Stamer
The Next Level expansion project is leading art towards new ways of expressions and content with an exciting collaboration with World-famous American artist, James Turrell. While we wait for the extension’s completion, the museum presents, for the first time, material documenting the evolution of the project and introduces the artist behind The Dome, in words, works, and pictures.
Having finalised the finances and ensured political back-up for the project, ARoS Museum of Art was, in July, able to make public the realisation of the museum’s extension. Before the project goes ahead, a presentation of it will take place in the ARoS Focus gallery on level 5. The audience will have an opportunity to see materials and sketches showing the original ideas and brand-new visualizations of the project.
You can read ARoS Museum of Art’s official press release (in Danish) here.
And learn more about the project here.
New visuals by FORBESMASSIE
On Monday, December 7 Partner Kasper Heiberg Frandsen will speak at TRÆdagen 2020 conference about the architect’s perspective on the benefits of using timber. The event, organized by Molio – Byggeriets Videnscenter, will take place in HUSET Middelfart, Denmark.
For more than two decades, we have integrated wood in the design of cultural, civic, commercial, and educational buildings over the world. Our approach to timber construction is rooted in a culture of sustainability and smart business – we believe that timber exists where these two notions intersect. Kasper will take the public through the journey of building in wood and will talk about the benefits of using timber as a sustainable material that can be used for constructive systems, facades, roofing and interior fit-out. He will also highlight two of Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s works, IBC Innovation Factory in Kolding and Framehouse in Dragør, Denmark, as project examples which wholeheartedly embrace the use of wood.
For more information (in Danish) about the event, program and registration, visit MOLIO.