What’s on our drawing board? Here’s the latest on our global projects and the thinking behind them
VIDEO: TECHNOLOGY IN CITY DEVELOPMENT 05.2022
Watch a video about our Tech Match collaboration dealing with how to use new technologies to develop cities in the future: "We would like the people that lay the decisions for [city development] to have better information to base their decisions on (…) by using intelligent surveys to make sense quantitatively of urban environments."
SOCIOLOGY STUDY OF DESIGN DISTRICT 04.2022
German sociologist Alina Feith is currently in London helping us to conduct a study of our completed project at the Design District. The main goal of our public realm design was to create a blueprint for an innovative place where a creative community can grow. Let us take stock of how the community is taking shape.
WILD URBANISM IN MANCHESTER 07.2021
We have won a competition in Manchester to develop a masterplan for 4400 homes in the Red Bank neighborhood of Victoria North. We will transform this site into Manchester’s best urban district, working with MacCreanor Lavington, OPEN, Useful Projects and WSP.
PUBLIC SPACE FOR SOLIDARITY IN NEUSS 07.2021
S+G selected to draw up a vision for Wendersplatz in the City of Neuss with Dietrich Untertrifaller Architekten.The Ministry for Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Gender Equality of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia supports the project as an icon for solidarity and community building.
DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK IN NORDVEST 07.2021
The City of Copenhagen has selected us to draw up a development plan for the bustling Nordvest district at Rentemestervej. Co-creation with a diverse group of stakeholders and experts in historic preservation and sustainable economic development. 1,5km pedestrian- and bicycle path will be delivered with the project.
RIBA JOURNAL REPORT ON CONSTRUCTION 07.2021
RIBA Journal reports on the construction of our London Design District. We can now get a sense how the public realm will connect the eccellctic group of16 new buildings and help to create a bigger community with the public realm. People have started using the first benches.
HOLBÆK CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS REGENERATION PLAN 06.2021
Intense co-creation with a dynamic group of business stakeholders in the historic core of the city of Holbæk has yielded a great result: The city council has unanimously voted to adopt our plan for regenerating the public realm of the historic harbour town connecting it to it's harbour.
BERLIN SENATE DESIGN ADVISORY BOARD 06.2021
For the first time the Berlin Senate Advisory Board for the Public Realm holds an event livestreamed to the public. We presented our plans for the transformation of Potsdamer Platz to the board. helping to raise public awareness for sustanable, ecological and climate-adapted public spaces is raised here.
URBAN SURVEY BICYCLE 2 06.2021
Working with machine learning and video analysis has been one of the busy research and development activities at S+G this year. Our prototyping has led to the specification for the bespoke S+G Urban Survey Bicycle 2, now under construction in Oregon in the USA.
POTSDAMER PLATZ GOING LIVE 06.2021
Oliver Schulze is in Berlin to kick off the transformation of Potsdamer Platz into a vibrant and green urban quarter, in partnership with Brookfield Properties. Updates will create high-quality, accessible space for local residents, workers and visitors. Great collaboration with our friends at Behnisch Architekten, Bartenbach and Stefan Wallmann.
SMART CITIES ON THE BIG SCREEN 05.2021
How can we build Smart Cities that balance people and technology? See Oliver and Mohammed in conversation with other Smart City experts in BLOXHUB's Science Forum at Empire Bio in Copenhagen on May 28th.
THAMESMEAD WATERFRONT COMPETITION WIN 04.2021
We are proud to be part of an exceptional team selected to develop the strategic masterplan that will guide the development of thousands of homes on 100ha of undeveloped land in southeast London over the next 30 years. At Schulze+Grassov we can’t wait to help shape life in the town centre of the future.
OPINION IN BYRUMMONITOR 04.2021
"’Wild’ nature in the middle of the city is like a unicorn: an illusion of something fantastic that does not exist in reality." Our op-ed discussing the current trend to greenwash the city is featured in the Danish newspaper Politiken. How should we integrate nature in urban environments?
DEMOCRACY FACTORY 12.2020
The Democracy Factory, designed in collaboration with Duvald for the Chicago Architecture Biennial, is our concept for a highly interactive exhibit aimed at empowering the local community of North Lawndale. Build a stool to sit and listen, to kick up our feet, to reach new heights, to re-invent the city.
OPINION IN ICON 11.2020
Read about our design philosophy in our opinion piece published this week in the British design and architecture magazine ICON. We set out why architects can’t be trusted to design cities (or at least, not on their own). We hope our piece will spark debate on the roles that different stakeholders play in urban design.
MOLKENMARKT BERLIN 11.2020
The Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing has appointed Oliver to run a professional lab in the public engagement process for the Molkenmarkt in Berlin Mitte. The lab will look at public areas and how accessible quality space with a strong identity can support the emergence of sociable space for local communities.
WATERWAYS FEATURED 10.2020
The Royal Danish Academy and the UIA Sustainable Development Goals Commission have selected our Waterways project as an example of how to achieve United Nations development goal nr.6: Clean water and sanitation
GREEN POTSDAMER PLATZ 09.2020
Brookfield Properties have selected a team including Schulze+Grassov to transform the historic Potsdamer Platz district into a greener and more inviting neighbourhood. Construction has begun to transform the Arkaden shopping mall. Our plans to refurbish all the open spaces will be released in the Spring of 2021.
HIGH-TECH MEETS LOW-TECH 09.2020
Urban construction nerds unite and save the world! We had the privilege to be part of a workshop with four other project teams developing high tech solutions for very low tech urban systems. From intelligent manhole covers to AI-driven exoskeletons supporting bricklayers this is a great way to put tech to good use.
ZÜRICH CENTRAL STATION 09.2020
The City of Zürich is looking to transform the Central Station and it's urban environment over the coming years. Oliver Schulze has been appointed as expert advisor and jury member to help select a multidisciplinary team to develop a plan by 2022.
RADIO4 INTERVIEW 08.2020
The Genau programme interviewed us in our offices to discuss the history of our Potsdamer Platz project site and how we worked intensely to learn about the existing community to inform our design to transform existing squares and streets to create a basis for a new green community to emerge in this historic location.
OBJECT RECOGNITION IN PLANNING 08.2020
BLOXHUB and Fundingbox have recruited us for Tech Match. The idea behind the Realdania-funded programme is to couple a Danish SME in the construction sector with a European Union tech startup to develop innovative solutions for existing business challenges that can be solved through technology.
ENGAGEMENT UNDER COVID-19 07.2020
Whilst we cannot meet with large groups in city hall meetings, we have designed a process of engaging the public of Frederiksberg to contribute to ideas for a new square adjacent to the City Hall. People could experience scenarios for the future in animated virtual reality models meeting us on site, or from the safety of their home.
OLIVER SCHULZE PRESENTS DESIGN DISTRICT 07.2020
Meet the Design District Architects: Jemima Burrill in conversation with Oliver Schulze. Jemima and Oliver explored the implications of Covid-19 on public space and life in cities. The conversation explores how our design for the public spaces will connect 16 buildings, designed by eight architects, set in the heart of Greenwich Peninsula.
LOUISE GRASSOV IN NOW GALLERY WEBINAR 06.2020
Curator Jemima Burrill of the Now Gallery in London was in conversation with urban designer Louise Grassov & designer Tom Lloyd to look at the how urban design and architecture affect the way we live and move around our cities.
INTERACTIVE BUILDING SITE 02.2020
Schulze+Grassov and Enemærke & Petersen have joined forces to develop an "Interactive Building Site" to address the biggest challenges experienced by local communities as developers execute major urban development projects. The project deploys our bespoke public life simulation platform and uses VR technology to give stakeholders access to an interactive world generated with input from experienced E&P building site managers. The work is funded by Realdania and the platform will help in the dialogue between the contractor and local communities in new projects.
KOLDING STEPS UP 12.2019
The City of Kolding is part of the Trekantsområdet of Denmark, the Triangle Region. In this industrial and commercial powerhouse of the Danish economy an entire region collaborates as a network of successful towns and cities, surrounded by beautiful landscape. We have been selected by the City of Kolding to help it become a more attractive urban destination in the region, strengthening the community of existing businesses and shops and improving the quality of buildings and open spaces in the city centre and surrounding districts.
Watch final presentation here
Watch final presentation here
ANDREA DYNNES AND JEPPE JENSEN +2 12.2019
To round off the academic training our graduates received at Danish universities, we sponsor them to take the "Plus 2" professional education programme run by the Danish Union of Architects and Designers. In the 2-year course they are paired with an experienced mentor in our office to reflect on their work in practice and they study part-time in groups to learn about professional practice. The education concludes with an exam similar to the RIBA Part 3 and the AIA professional accreditation examinations.
VISION FOR TORONTO 10.2019
The relocation of Bombardier from the Toronto Downsview area creates North America's largest urban regeneration opportunity on a site of over 300 ha within ten minutes transit of Downtown Toronto. In a fiercely competitive field we were selected into the final four competing teams with our long-time collaborators of Behnisch Architekten, Transsolar and Martha Schwartz and Partners. We were the responsible urban designers for the masterplan that focused on creating an ecosystem of networked employment sites to underpin mixed-use urban development with a fully climate-adapted public realm.
TRANSFORMING INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE 09.2019
The Siemensstadt in Berlin is a city district built from 1899 onwards as the headquarters for Siemens. Complete with workplaces, housing and infrastructure, the growing district attracted many workers to one of Germany's industrial powerhouses. Schulze+Grassov were chosen as urban designers to compete for a complete reinvention of the district as a modern Siemensstadt 2.0 in the years to come. Working with our friends at Dietrich Untertrifaller, Studio Dreiseitel and Mobility-in-Chain, we trained algorithms to visualise the potential that employment and R&D land uses have to create a lively city.
CITY OF SOUND 08.2019
Struer is the City of Sound, the home to Danish company Bang & Olufsen. As the commercial harbour serving the agricultural hinterland is restructuring, a major opportunity has arisen to grow the city structure into the harbor area, right adjacent to the city centre. Here, the city will create new public destinations, workplaces and homes in a very privileged location. Our development plan proposal focussed on a city district with opportunities and invitations for people of all ages.
DESIGN GUIDE FOR KOLDING 08.2019
As part of our work for The City of Kolding we’ve developed a design guide for ground floor tenants. The guide will strengthen the perceived stewardship of public spaces and the overall experience of the inner city. It provides a range of suggestions on how to create a more positive, inviting and animated environment on the ground floor, including building edges and the adjacent public space. The guide has been issued to all business and shop owners in the city centre who have welcomed it. Only a few months later, we’re already seeing the positive effects.
WITH DORTE MANDRUP IN NÜRNBERG 07.2019
For some time we have been looking out for a good opportunity to work with the team of Dorte Mandrup to explore collaboration. What better opportunity than to take our joint Danish team to Oliver's fatherland to bring Scandinavian sensibility to a post-war building icon sitting adjacent to the historic medieval structure of the Nürnberg city wall. Our project connects building and open space with a focus on improving pedestrian connectivity and natural urban habitat in this iconic location.
NEW BICYCLE BRIDGE 07.2019
Close to Louise's home in Valby big things are happening. The local train station has been transformed into a multi-modal hub that will become Denmark's fifth biggest transport hub. Metro, S-Train, Letbane, Øresund and national rail trains will all stop here. Many new buildings are being constructed already in this new emerging urban hub. We have drawn plans for a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will span several lines to improve accessibility across rail infrastructure.
MUNICH URBAN EXTENSION 06.2019
Munich is a fast-growing German city with a high quality of life. We are advising Austrian developer CA Immo on development proposals for an urban extension on the site of a former stone quarry adjacent to the existing S-Train station in München Feldkirchen. Working in a team with Behnisch Architekten, we are developing the plan for the public realm as a "Handbook for Public Spaces" to set out the design principles for all streets, paths, squares, courtyards and the green infrastructure. The new district will have to be developed incrementally to organically extend the town of Feldkirchen.
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER 05.2019
The Danish Architecture Center runs a three year p/t professional educational programme "Strategic Urban Governance" for chief executives in local authorities. We were asked to plan and facilitate a professional study tour to Manchester and Liverpool where 28 Danish leaders met with their English counterparts and learned about the remarkable transformation of England's Northwest over the last generation. Experiences included learning about partnerships in urban development, sustainability, climate change, working with local communities and, most importantly, a pub talk in a Victorian pub.
CROSSING THE NECKAR 03.2019
In 2019 the IBA Heidelberg asked us to assemble a team to compete for the design of a sequence of three new pedestrian and bicycle bridges over busy highways and the river Neckar. Our twin bridges designed with UN Studio and Knippers Helbig frame the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the medieval core of Heidelberg. One of the bridges is proposed in massive timber construction to sequester carbon within the new structure.
CYCLING DTU 03.2019
Cycling to campus and cycling on campus is essential as a way of getting around in a smart way on Denmark's largest campus. We have been asked to provide the DTU with guidelines for new bicycle paths and parking over this 106ha campus. Our guidelines provide the basis for improving and extending the offer and making bicycling an attractive transportation alternative for all students, faculty and staff.
SAFE IN ST. LOUIS 02.2019
Campus perimeters are interfaces where the busy urban streets need to transform to create safe space for students, faculty and staff. In our East End transformation of the Washington University in St. Louis campus we introduced dedicated light signals for bicycles as a first in this county in the US. Having addressed how pedestrians and bicyclists can be safer on the campus we were appointed by the university with WSP to review the entire campus perimeter and to draw up intersection improvements all around this 100 acre campus.
OUT OF THE GROUND 01.2019
The Design District is London's new permanent home for the creative industries. It comprises of 16 buildings, designed by eight architects, set in the heart of Greenwich Peninsula. We designed the landscape of squares, streets, lanes and co-working yards that provide the glue between all the buildings. Our foundations and drainage have been constructed and we look forward to the arrival of trees and CNC-routed stonework for benches and tree pit surrounds.
SERVUS SEESTADT 01.2019
After four years as member of the advisory board of Wien 3420 in the Seestadt Aspern Oliver hands over the batton to Andreas Kleboth from Linz. Oliver has served two full terms on the advisory board that is responsible for quality management in Europe's largest new town under construction. Advising on hundreds of projects from inception to completion this advisory board is one of a kind in Europe. Oliver had a chance to guide the building out of a plan he had a hand in shaping himself as the author of the Gehl project "Partitur öffentlicher Raum", the iconic plan for all public spaces in the city in 2007.
MONEY MADE IN GERMANY 12.2018
The Bundesbank spreads 5000 employees over several real estate sites in the City of Frankfurt. At the seat of the iconic brutalist main building next to the Frankfurt TV Tower the Bundesbank wants to consolidate its body of employees in existing and new buildings in an activated and attractive campus setting. Working with our long-time collaborators Behnisch Architekten we drew up a masterplan and used public life simulations to demonstrate how employees will be able to enjoy a range of open spaces as part of their new working day.
CLOUDBURST COLLABORATION 09.2018
S+G, EnviDan and Colas have been awarded funding by Realdania to develop the second generation of our climate adaptation project “Vandvejen” (Waterways). The funding allows us to test new sustainable construction principles and material prototypes for our innovative urban rainwater management system. With this product we will help cities and land owners capture and retain rainwater locally, taking pressure off municipal drainage systems.
PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE BRIDGE IN ST. LOUIS 08.2018
The first section of the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge designed by Ayers Saint Gross in collaboration with Schulze+Grassov is being installed over Forest Park Parkway in St. Louis. The 18-foot bridge will attract more than 600,000 users per year and help to connect the 68-hectare university campus with nearby university housing areas and leisure destinations. The project is part of a range to measures by Washington University in St. Louis to promote walking and cycling to campus.
To learn more
To learn more
PROJECT DELIVERY IN LONDON 08.2018
S+G have been appointed by contractor Volker Fitzpatrick to deliver the technical design and construction support for a fine-grain network of pedestrian-friendly squares, streets and lanes in London’s Design District on the Greenwich Peninsula. Our innovative shared co-working yards will shape the identity for four unique clusters of creative businesses operating out of 16 buildings designed by architects from England and Spain. Our open spaces will establish the bustling connective tissue of open spaces connecting the 1,800 creative workers and their visitors.
TRANSFORMING DTU 07.2018
Denmark's Technical University campus in Lyngby is the biggest university campus in Denmark. Built in the post-war period the campus was situated 20km outside the dense city of Copenhagen, along a new motorway and without access by rail or transit. We were hand-picked to lead a team including Henning Larsen Architects and others to draw up a strategic campus plan to facilitate an aggressive growth agenda to consolidate DTU's status as an elite university. Our plan has been adopted by the DTU Board of Directors in June 2018.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SHORTLIST 07.2018
Together with Behnisch Architekten of Boston we have been shortlisted to a major university project on the Princeton University Campus in New Jersey. The historic campus was established in 1756 and the university is rated as one of the best universities in the world today. The campus has been the home to 63 Nobel prize laureates.
CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED IN THE UK 07.2018
The site hoarding to our Greenwich Peninsula project has gone up and construction has started on London's first purpose-built design district, complete by 2020. The site hoarding has already become a popular surface engaging the community where people stop, look, play and take photos. The artwork to the site hoarding and the adjacent street were installed to illustrations designed by HATO of London.
GREENING HISTORIC COURTYARDS 06.2018
The sketch design for our three historic urban courtyards has gone through public consultation with local residents and is now awaiting approval from the city council. We look forward to working on the technical project and building three exemplary landscaped courtyards fit for increasing the quality of life for residents of dense urban blocks in the centre of Copenhagen.
GLÜCKAUF ZUKUNFT! 05.2018
The German coal mining company RAG has invited us to spend a day visiting one of the remaining active coal mines in Germany before they stop extracting coal by the end of 2018. The wonderful RAG team at Prosper-Haniel took us 1200m underground where we took a monorail train system right up to the face where coal is extracted. This was an unforgettable and intense experience during an emotional time for the German coal mining community that will cease all coal production by the end of 2018.
To learn more
To learn more