One of Scandinavia’s most recognized design firms, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, has joined global architecture firm Perkins&Will in a strategic partnership that extends Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s international reach and reinforces Perkins&Will’s commitment to sustainability and design excellence.
Founded in 1986, Schmidt Hammer Lassen is known around the world for its iconic, highly sustainable cultural and civic architecture, including The Black Diamond, the extension to the Royal Library in Copenhagen; ARoS Museum of Art in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city; Halifax Central Library in Nova Scotia, Canada; the Katuaq Cultural Centre in Nuuk, Greenland; and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The firm recently won a global competition to design the world’s largest library – the 1.2 million-square-foot Shanghai East Library – and it is currently working on the transformative Monroe Blocks mixed-use development in Detroit, Michigan, the firm’s first project in the United States.
By combining Perkins&Will’s 83-year legacy of design excellence with Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s illustrious Danish design pedigree, the united firms will make even greater contributions to the canon of cultural and civic architecture, according to Perkins&Will CEO Phil Harrison.
“Part of what makes this partnership so special is that Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen share a common set of values: design excellence, sustainability, innovation, and the highest level of client service,” Harrison says. “We also maintain the same design ethos, believing that exceptional architecture is always democratic and in the service of the greater good. We’re compatible at every level.”
Bjarne Hammer, founding partner of Schmidt Hammer Lassen, agrees: “Our firms share a clear mission: through architecture and design, we make a positive difference in the world and in the lives of others. We both believe strongly in the transformative, healing power of design to address some of the most pressing social and environmental issues of our time. And, we both thrive in a design culture that encourages collaboration.”
Complementary Goals
In addition to a shared vision and purpose, the two firms have symbiotic market strategies. Perkins&Will aims to diversify its global talent, expand its cultural and civic practice, and reinforce the caliber of its design portfolio. At the same time, Schmidt Hammer Lassen aims to expand into new geographic markets, grow its client base, and apply groundbreaking design research to practice.
“We want to be known as a company that is both design-driven and client-focused, as 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,” says Schmidt Hammer Lassen CEO Bente Damgaard. “It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
Perkins&Will’s global platform also provides a host of benefits to Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s international clients, Damgaard says, because they now have all of the resources, talent, and expertise – including research – they need within a single firm. This streamlines collaboration, facilitates communication, and ensures smooth project delivery.
Aligned In Design
The union of Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen is supported in large part by both firms’s legacies of, and commitments to, design excellence.
Over the last eight decades, Perkins&Will’s landmark projects of beautiful, thoughtful design – like the transformative Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois; the Shanghai Natural History Museum in China; and the Albion Library in Toronto, Canada – have characterized the essence of the firm. Similarly, Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s portfolio of award-winning architecture – projects that constitute works of public art in and of themselves – underscores the firm’s 32-year history of distinguished design. Examples of built work include Dokk1, the largest public library in Scandinavia; Malmö Live, a concert, congress, and hotel complex in Sweden; and Vendsyssel Theatre in Denmark, a music and theater hall that celebrates cultural exchange.
施密特·哈默·拉森的高级合伙人克里斯蒂安·拉尔斯·阿尔马克（Kristian Lars Ahlmark）表示：”我们的公司明确植根于斯堪的纳维亚建筑传统，这些传统基于民主、福利、可持续性、光明、开放和社会责任等价值观。 “我们的建筑不仅反映了这些价值观，而且将这些价值观传授给所有遇到这些价值观的人，无论是租户、访客还是路人。
可持续发展中的协同效应
此外，施密特·哈默·拉森、珀金斯和威尔都是可持续发展领域的知名领导者。 通过高绩效、环保的设计，这些公司为减少导致气候变化的温室气体排放以及改善人类和生态健康做出了重大贡献。 这些公司设计了数百个项目，总金额达数亿平方英尺，这些项目达到或超过各种绿色建筑国际标准。 他们的员工包括业内许多最受追捧的可持续设计专家。
达姆加德说：”可持续性是珀金斯、威尔和施密特·哈默·拉森的DNA。 “这只是我们公司之间协同作用的又一个例子，也是这种合作关系有意义的原因。
文化多样性
这种伙伴关系也是对文化、习俗、语言和遗产差异的庆祝，以及这些差异相互作用时发生的设计创新。
哈里森说：”我们两家公司都相信人才和创造力的全球多元化。 “我们将设计文化、美学和情感汇聚在一起，成为一种积极的力量，从而建设更好、更周到、更具包容性的建筑。 在珀金斯和威尔，我们欣赏和庆祝施密特·哈默·拉森的丹麦设计遗产，并期待它能以多种方式对我们集体工作产生积极影响。
关于施密特·哈默·拉森建筑师
施密特·哈默·拉森建筑师事务所于1986年在丹麦奥胡斯成立，由创始合伙人莫滕·施密特、比耶恩·哈默和约翰·拉森以及高级合伙人金·霍尔斯特·詹森和克里斯蒂安·拉尔斯·阿尔马克以及合伙人荣路和克里斯·哈迪领导。 该公司是斯堪的纳维亚最认可和屡获殊荣的建筑实践之一。 该公司在哥本哈根、奥胡斯和上海设有工作室，在世界各地提供熟练的建筑服务，作为国际知名建筑设计师，拥有卓越的业绩记录。 文化和教育建筑、办公室、商业、零售和住宅，往往在综合用途开发和复杂的城市环境中，是公司产出的基石。 该实践在图书馆和其他公共和文化地标性建筑的设计方面拥有广泛的全球经验，其创新、可持续和民主的建筑方法吸引了全球关注，赢得了 100 多个国家和国际奖项。 有关详细信息，请访问www.shl.dk。
