BIG has designed its new headquarters around a single column and a large staircase on the Copenhagen harbor in Denmark. 

Named BIG HQ, the new 4,488-square-meter headquarters is surrounded by warehouses and maritime infrastructure in Copenhagen, at the tip of Sundmolen.

BIG HQ represents one of the first examples of the studio's integrated LEAPP approach—a partnership between BIG's internal Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, Planning, and Product Design teams. The project was completed in the spring of 2024.

Additionally, the building is made of Uni-Green concrete developed in close collaboration with Unicon. 

BIG's new headquarters, a 27-meter-tall, seven-story building rooted in the harbor's industrial past, is situated on a narrow pier in Copenhagen's Nordhavn neighborhood.

The building, which took two years to build in partnership with LM Byg, Unicon, Energy Machines, El-Team Vest, Eiler Thomsen, and HB Trapper, now houses BIG's 300 employees in Copenhagen. 

The building, which was designed to achieve DGNB Gold, incorporates geothermal and solar energy systems, helping to achieve a 60 per cent renewable energy reliance.

When used in tandem with passive design techniques like natural ventilation, the geothermal energy system meets all of the building's cooling needs and 84 per cent of its heating needs.

Compared to an equivalent traditional concrete mix, the building represents the first use of Uni-Green concrete, which was created in partnership with Unicon. 

The Uni-Green concrete involves replacing some of the cement clinker with calcined clay and lime filler, resulting in a CO2 reduction of about 25 percent.

Tested and developed during construction, BIG HQ is a testament to Uni-Green's durability and potential. It is also a pioneer project in terms of building methods and materials, pushing the limits of concrete's potential. 

"The idea behind LEAPP is an architecture practice as a renaissance, interdisciplinary body of people and knowledge - LEAPP being the acronym for Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, Product, and Planning," said Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG.

"Every single aspect of LEAPP has been involved in our HQ, including the planning, the product design, the very complex stacking of the concrete elements. Because of the way it’s engineered, it only holds one column in the whole building."

"A series of Scandinavian granite and marble are stacked between the beams and everything else is these concrete walls resting on each other. Every floor has access to an outdoor terrace that is connected to the outdoors terrace above and below. One of the means of egress is that you can walk all the way from the roof to the ground floor," Ingels added. 

"This creates incredibly framed views as you move through the building – sometimes you see a fragment of the Nordhavn community, sometimes you see a frame of the water, sometimes a framed view of the windmills at Middelgrunden," Ingels concluded.

BIGsters and visitors will enter the main entrance through a 3-meter-tall glass door and be greeted by a Piranesian space where the interior of the building is revealed through diagonal views up to the top floor. This space is connected visually and physically by a central staircase made of blackened steel that zigzags.

At the center of the open area is a single load-bearing stone column made of six different types of rock, from porous marble at the top to dense granite at the bottom, which rotates on each floor to line up with the beam it is supporting.  

From the roof to the quayside, a 140-meter-long staircase winds around the building's facade, giving each floor access to an outdoor terrace and facilitating movement between floors. By serving as an extra fire escape, the staircase frees the interior from the traditional core's obstruction.

In order to maximize the amount of light available to the model shop and meeting rooms, the elevator, vertical risers, and a smaller, secondary egress staircase are relocated to the north edge of the building, leaving the work areas as open as possible.

Inspired by the sandy beaches and coastal forests of Denmark, BIG Landscape has converted a former parking lot at the base of the building into a 1,500-square-meter public park. 

Native forest trees, like oaks and pines, provide shelter from the harbor's severe winds to the north. In order to promote habitat creation for biodiversity and provide a soft surface for play and relaxation, areas with planting, rocks, and woods have been created toward the south.

American artist Benjamin Langholz's "Stone 40" sculpture, nestled among the trees, is sure to astonish and captivate guests of all ages. 40 stones are arranged in a spiral pattern to create the sculpture, which serves as a fun and sensory-challenging path.

Wind-tolerant trees, shrubs, perennials, and herbs—including the herbs used by the chefs in the studio canteen—are planted along the exterior staircase that circles the headquarters. 

The rooftop terrace, which offers staff and visitors a distinctive view of the city and the water, is paved with wood from a nearby sawmill and carries on the park's theme of natural materials to create a comprehensive connection between urban space and architecture.  

"At the tip of Sundmolen in Nordhavn, we’ve transformed what was once a parking lot into a 1,500 m² beach park—a hidden gem in the heart of the city. Inspired by Denmark’s beautiful coastal landscapes, we envisioned a place where people can relax, play, fish, and connect with nature," said Giulia Frittoli, Partner and Head of BIG Landscape, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group. 

"The park reflects what would have naturally grown here before the harbor emerged, making it an homage to both the past and future. By preserving the site’s industrial character and merging it with the Danish coastal landscape, it offers a living space where nature and people thrive together."

"We hope it becomes a lasting part of visitors’ memories and an example of inhabitable nature," Frittoli added.

BIG recently unveiled design to transform a former supermarket building into the new Museum for Paper Art in the North Jutland region of Denmark. 

In addition, the firm's Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring curved roofs, topped out in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. Moreover, the firm unveiled design for a group of holiday villas on Japan’s Sagi Island called NOT A HOTEL Setouchi. 

Project facts

Name: BIG HQ  
Size: 52,528 sq ft / 4,880 m2  
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark  
Client: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group  

Collaborators: LM Byg, Aalborg Portland, Centrum Pæle, Connex, El Team Vest, Energy Machines, Skel.dk, Paschal Stillads, Kjellerup VVS, HB Trapper, Eiler Thomsen, Deko, Brønnum, Primatag, Optimus, Krak Bau, Alt om Fugning Aps, YOUR PARTNER, Kvadrat Acoustics, GOTESSONS, Akustik Miljø, Dansk Belægningsenterprise, NO.BA Studio, Ceramica Cielo, TONI Copenhagen, Dinesen Floors A/S, Influit, Helden, Artelia Group, DTU, Popl, Rambøll, EcoBeton Danmark ApS, PD Elevator, Fritz Hansen, Muller van Severen, Aluflam, Artemide, Funktionen, Windowmaster, Byggeweb, Viasol, Schüco, Anker & Co., E. Nielsens Mekaniske Stenhuggeri A/S, Allremove, Miele, SHURE, Shack Trapper, BoConcept.

Project team

Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Finn Nørkjær  
Project Manager: Ole Elkjær-Larsen  
Design Lead: Frederik Lyng  
Project Architect: Jesper Boye Andersen  

Team: Annette Jensen, Justas Zabulionis, Hanne Halvorsen, Alda Sol Hauksdóttir, Jesper Boye Andersen, Gabrielle Nadeau, Lisbet Fritze Trentemøller, Tobias Hjortdal, Fabiana Cortolezzis, Maria Natalia Lenardon, Sergiu Calacean, Lenya Schneehage, Steen Kortbæk Svendsen, Katrine Juul, Mads Enggaard Stidsen, Kaja Terze, Eddie Chiu Fai Can, Mathieu Jaumain, Jannik Albæk, Matthew Thomson, Felicia Olofsson, Helen Shuyang Chen, Mads Primdahl Rokkjær, Arthur Martinevski, Ewa Zapiec, Snorre Emanuel Nash Jørgensen, Marius Tromholt-Richter, Kresimir Blazina, Magni Waltersson, Atibadi Brugnano, Graham Forrest Jordan, Ioannis Mathioudakis, Yunyoung Choi, Dobrochna Anna Klimczak, Shu Zhao, Joos Jerne, Narisara Ladawal Schröder, Mikkel M. R. Stubgaard, Søren Martinussen, Kim Lauer, Lone Fenger Albrechtsen, Jonas Høgh Rask, Tommy Bjørnstrup, Kanetnat Puttimettipanan, Celia de la Osa Muñoz, Anne-Charlotte Wiklander, Helena Hammershaimb, Danyu Zeng, Guoyu Liu, Thor Larsen-Lechuga, Filip Jacek Rozkowski, Irie Annik Meree, Anna Wozniak, Høgni Laksafoss, Jonathan Otis Navntoft Russell, Jiewei Li, Frederik Skou Jensen, Luca Pileri, Margarita Nutfulina, Gül Ertekin, Aya Fibert, David Zahle, Paula Madrid, Xingyue Huang, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Yehezkiel Wiliardy, Omar Mohamed Nabil Mohamed Saad Mowafy, Alexandra-Madalina Nita, Petra Hajdu, Johan Frederik Lindqvist, Mariana De Soares E Barbieri Cardoso, Marah Wagner, Xinying Zhang, Jakob Lange, Martyna Kloda, Nandi Lu, Henrik Jacobsen, Bart Ramakers, Celina Holck, Mussa Algasra, Andrea Angelo Suardi, Xavier Thanki, Agla Egilsdottir, Eddie Can  

BIG Engineering: Andrea Megan Hektor, Tim Christensen, Alexander Gale Heiede, Jesus Fernandez Fraile, Kai-Brith Kalda, Thomas Lejeune, Andreas Bak, Kannan Selvaraj, Jonathan Otis Nanvtoft Russell  

BIG Sustainability: Tore Banke, Sille Foltinger, Alexander Matthias Jacobson  

BIG Landscape: Giulia Frittoli, Ulla Hornsyld, Louise Mould, Anders Fønss, Brian Malig Collado, Christian Kuczenski, Ahmed Badra, Anna Bertolazzi, Anna Lindgaard Jensen, Barbora Hrmova, Bartlomiej Lew, Dina Brændstrup, Fernanda Furuya, Giulia Genovese, Ines Zunic, Jialin Liang, Jonathan Udemezue, Juhye Kim, Kristian Mousten, Milan Moldenhawer, Xinyi Chen  

Site Management: Lars Thonke, Michael James Kepke, Jannik Albæk, Louise Brøndbjerg, Mathilde Jeppesen, Marija Cvijovic.

All images © Laurian Ghinitoiu.

All drawings © BIG. 

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BIG concrete HQ LEAPP Uni-Green concrete