Danish architecture practice Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has joined forces with Perkins and Will to expand its portfolio into North America. 

According to a recent joint press release sent by the firms, the global architectural firm SHL Architects, deeply rooted in Danish design traditions, will open studios in New York and San Francisco alongside North America’s strongest architectural practice.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, one of Scandinavia’s most recognized design firms, will open a bi-coastal practice in the U.S. in early 2020, bringing Danish design within closer reach of clients in North America. 

New Maritime Knowledge Hub at Wirral Waters in Liverpool, United Kingdom by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. Image © Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

With the addition of the new North American studios, Schmidt Hammer Lassen will be represented in Copenhagen, Shanghai, New York, and San Francisco. The firm will work out of Perkins and Will studios in New York and San Francisco, allowing the Schmidt Hammer Lassen teams to enhance their engagement with clients in North America, establish a permanent local presence, and become more closely integrated with their American and Canadian colleagues.

"The demand for Scandinavian design in the U.S. and Canada is stronger than it’s ever been before. By bringing our Danish colleagues to North America, we’re able to respond to our clients in a way that no other firm can," said Phil Harrison, CEO of Perkins and Will.

Perkins and Will's Cidade Jardim House in São Paulo, Brazil. Image © Daniel Ducci

A natural move 

The expansion is Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s next step toward realizing its strategic growth strategy since becoming part of Perkins and Will in 2018. Although the firm’s designers have been working in North America for more than a decade, the launch of a more permanent physical presence here allows Schmidt Hammer Lassen to be even more nimble.

"We have several large-scale projects in progress across the United States and Canada, so it is an excellent time for a North American expansion," said Sanne Wall-Gremstrup, managing director of Schmidt Hammer Lassen. 

"We’ll be closer to our current clients in Detroit, Boston, San Francisco, and across Canada, and better positioned to engage with new clients throughout the continent."

American Express Sunrise Corporate Center by Perkins and Will in Sunrise, Florida, 2017. Image courtesy of Perkins and Will

Coast-to-coast coverage

New York and San Francisco were selected as North American home bases for Schmidt Hammer Lassen because of their convenient access to clients and projects, including the masterplan for UCSF Parnassus Medical Center in San Francisco, a joint project with Perkins and Will; Monroe Blocks, downtown Detroit’s most significant mixed-use development in decades; and the Seaport World Trade Center, a prominent 737,300-square-foot mixed-use project in Boston. 

"The importance of collaborating with our clients —those who give us the opportunity to design some of the world’s most meaningful projects—goes without saying. But the earlier and more closely we can work together, the better," said Kristian Lars Ahlmark, partner and design director at Schmidt Hammer Lassen. 

"This North American expansion gives us the opportunity to employ our collaborative approach in the U.S. and Canada with more enthusiasm than ever."

Perkins and Will, an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm, was founded in 1935 on the belief that design has the power to transform lives. Guided by its core values—design excellence, diversity and inclusion, research, resilience, social purpose, sustainability, and well-being—the firm is committed to designing a better, more beautiful world.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, part of global architecture and design firm Perkins and Will, is one of Scandinavia's most recognized and award-winning architectural practices. The company was founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 1986 and is led today by partners Morten Schmidt, Bjarne Hammer, Kim Holst Jensen, Kristian Lars Ahlmark, Chris Hardie, Rong Lu, Mads Kaltoft, Kasper Frandsen, Elif Tinaztepe, Nathan Smith, Tiago Pereira, Rasmus Kierkegaard, and Sanne Wall-Gremstrup.

The firm provides skilled architectural services all over the world, with a distinguished track record as designers of international, high-profile architecture.

Top image: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects' transformation of the Curtin University's library in Perth, Australia. Image courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

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