During the World Architecture Festival 2018, which will be held this year again in Amsterdam, we had the chance to sit down with Kim Nielsen, one of the founders of Denmark-based firm 3XN.
3XN is today one of the most renowned Danish firms, operating on a global scale. With strong expertise in healthcare and institutional projects, the firm early on decided to focus on a global strategy. "When we came into the crisis in 2008, we have already done a couple of buildings abroad. [...] but after the crisis we realized, we had to be global," Kim explains.
For 3XN, research and technology has been instrumental to their growth, with GXN as an inside research lab that focuses on sustainable materials, and embracing BIM as a tool that allows them to execute complex projects such as the Blue Planet on an efficient way. “We started our research 13 years ago when I met Kasper Guldager who is now a partner in charge of our research. That was very much because we always thought we were a little bit behind the materials, [...] I thought we needed a lot more knowledge about green technologies in the future,” says Kim. “BIM is very important for designing what we're doing right now,” he continues. “With BIM, we can get everything in line and optimize everything so it becomes not so costly.”
The firm continues with its global work. The new headquarters of the International Olympic Committee will open in the coming weeks, and they are working on the new Sydney Fish Market, Munich Stadium, and a skyscraper in Mumbai.
Learn more about 3XN on their ArchDaily Office Profile.
