Henning Larsen has been selected as the winner of an international competition for the design of Kurfürstendamm 231, a new mixed-use urban development in western Berlin, Germany. Other finalists in the competition included Cobe, David Chipperfield, and Mäckler Architekten. The winning concept centers the neighborhood around an urban courtyard which acts as a large-scale meeting place for the local community. Nine buildings define the courtyard, including the existing Agrippina House, which is set to be rehabilitated through the project.
Canberra Theatre Centre design concept. Image Courtesy of Henning Larsen, Architectus, and Arup
The consortium formed of international studio Henning Larsen, Australian office Architectus, and global consultants Arup has been selected to transform the Canberra Theater Center into a vibrant and inclusive space. The project is developed in consultation with First Nations peoples to ensure that Canberra’s Civic and Cultural District will become a welcoming space for both artists and audiences. The winning tender includes preliminary designs that depict a new theater building to be added to the district, in addition to the renovation of the Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theater, and The Playhouse.
The finalists for the Opera of the Future competition have been announced. This urban planning competition, commissioned by the state capital of Düseldorf, was created to select a location for the new cultural institution. After an extensive examination of potential site locations, the two options for the competition proposals were: Heinrich-Heiene-Allee, where the current opera house is, and Am Wehrhahn.
Throughout the brief, firms were encouraged to figure out how this future project could become a lively and public space open to the entire city, offering a wide range of services. As a result, submissions were received for both prospective buildings, and the finalists for each location were announced.
In an effort to address the architecture industry’s environmental impact, Henning Larsen is presenting the “Changing Our Footprint” exhibition at AedesArchitecture Forum in Berlin. The event features the small but scalable steps that the office is taking to move towards a more desirable future through the projects they are designing and the research they are conducting. The exhibition aims to be an engaging event, inviting visitors to participate in the dialogue, to think critically about the proposed solutions and initiatives, and to ask difficult questions in the search for better outcomes. The exhibition is open until March 22, 2023. Henning Larsen will also host a series of panel debates at the Aedes Architecture Forum from February 22 to March 14.
Henning Larsen has revealed the first images of the Ørestad Church, the first church to be built in Copenhagen in the last 30 years. The modern monument is built in wood and wood shingle, reflecting Ørestad’s open natural landscape and embracing the identity of the local community. The intention was to create a serene space, detached from the bustle of the city, where the calmness and simplicity of interior spaces can offer residents solace from their everyday life. Construction is expected to start in 2024, and the church will be consecrated in 2026.
Henning Larsen has unveiled the "Fritz Hansen Pavilion", a sustainably-designed pavilion for the 3daysofdesign event in Copenhagen. Set in Designmuseum's Grønnegården, the Pavilion is developed with a Nordic approach, centered around daylight, using low-carbon materials, and circular design principles. The pavilion is designed to be disassembled, ensuring that its materials can be reused elsewhere. The pavilion will be open to the public during 3daysofdesign 15 – 17 June, and will then be used by Designmuseum Danmark until mid- Autumn.
Henning Larsen Reims School. Image Courtesy of Henning Larsen
Henning Larsen has been selected among 40 international architecture firms to design NEOMA’s new French Business School, in Reims, France. The Danish firm's hybrid timber design combines innovation, environmental consciousness, and a focus on student life, setting to accommodate over 4,000 students across a 26,000 sqm campus. Construction is expected to start in spring of 2023, and is scheduled to be open for the start of the 2025 academic year. Along with Henning Larsen, the winning team includes Patriarche, Egis, Elioth, Etamine, Acoustb, and Creafactory.
Architecture draws together influences in art, culture and daily life. When designing for local communities and sourcing regional materials, architects often take inspiration from vernacular traditions. Utilizing traditional materials and resources from the area where a building is located, they draw from local climates and a history of building and ideas. Building sites around the world are diverse locations shaped by new construction technologies, past techniques, and changing conditions of cultural life.
Henning Larsen revealed the design for World of Volvo, an experience centre for the Swedish car manufacturer that highlights the Scandinavian landscape and architectural traditions. Currently under construction, the project features a circular timber structure that takes on a modern approach to traditional construction material, while expressing openness and an intimate relationship with the landscape. The venue is set for completion in late 2023 and will open to visitors in 2024.
A consortium comprising developers Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf together with lead architects Alison Brooks Architects, Adjaye Associates, Henning Larsen and landscape design practice SLA were selected to develop Toronto's Quayside into a new neighbourhood containing affordable housing, robust public spaces and new business opportunities. The design for the 4.9 hectares site on Toronto's waterfront proposes over 800 affordable housing units, together with an 8,000 square-metres forested green space and an urban farm, accompanied by arts venues and flexible educational spaces.
As the new year kicks off, we're taking a look ahead to the projects we're most looking forward to in 2022. With a mix of cultural and commercial programs, the designs are located across five continents, with many under construction for multiple years. Designed across a wide range of scales, they represent a mix of interconnected landscapes, museums, and new skyscrapers.
Henning Larsen revealed its proposal for an International Conference Center in Pujiang, China, that would help define a vibrant city centre with sustainability as its hallmark. Featuring a circular structure with an urban park at its core, the project is articulated around ten design strategies to achieve carbon neutrality and meet high well-being standards. The proposal is one of the winning projects of an international competition whose shortlist includes designs by Zaha Hadid Architect, GMP Architects, MVRDV and Swooding Architects.
Henning Larsen won the competition to design a new university building for the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), the studio’s first project in Austria. Founded in 1995, the MCI outgrew its facility in the city centre, and the competition was meant to establish a new unified campus, gathering together the many faculties now scattered on different locations throughout Innsbruck. The design consists of an isolated object with no back or front featuring multi-story voids carved into each façade, establishing distinct relationships with the surroundings and framing views of the Alps.
Henning Larsen and Ramboll have revealed the design of Marmormolen, a large timber building in Copenhagen. The building, which is expected to be one of the largest contemporary wood structures in Denmark, features office, retail, and commercial facilities on the Nordhavn waterfront with a green plaza, rooftop gardens, promenades, and a waterfront park.
Henning Larsen has revealed the design for Landehof, a new office building activating an underused plot along a railway in the city of Augsburg in Germany. As part of a masterplan meant to develop the area around the city's central train station, the contemporary addition to the complex and textured urban fabric unfolds on a long and narrow plot adjacent to the railway tracks. The design takes cues from the surrounding historical architectural styles, serving as a gateway to the city centre.
Henning Larsen has been creating projects that address cross-cultural design, tackle diverse climatic zones, and try to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. All of this wouldn’t be possible without the use of technology and specially crafted digital and generative design tools that allow architects to treat any element as a parameter in design.
In a special interview with ArchDaily, Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Partner and Director of Henning Larsen’s Innovation and Sustainability Department talks about digital tools and their incorporation in the design process. Focusing specifically in this conversation on Sandworm, a new modeling program that uses sandboxes, Anderson explains how they have achieved to scan and directly transfer manipulated landscapes into a 3D model.
Located in the heart of Westminster, a short distance away from the Buckingham Palace, Henning Larsen are building a community hub that reimagines traditional office and commercial spaces. 105 Victoria Street will be the architecture firm's first ever project in London, providing visitors with an urban plaza that enables an active and social working environment both indoors and outdoors. The project is being developed by BentallGreenOak and is designed in collaboration with Adamson Associates Architects and KPF.
Henning Larsen has won a competition to design Højvangen Church, the first church to be built in SkanderborgParish in over 500 years. The new intervention, set to be completed and inaugurated by December 2024, will be a new public gathering point in the growing residential area of Højvangen in Skanderborg, Denmark.