What’s on our drawing board? Here’s the latest on our global projects and the thinking behind them
DEMO DAY FOR TECH MATCH 06.2022
How can we survey the complexities of life in the city? Our designer, Krista Doersch, presented our research using object detection for public life surveys at the Tech Match Demo Day. Through the BloxHub program with funding from Realdania and Funding Box, we were partnered with Heptasense to develop a more efficient survey method.
IMMERSION EXPERIENCE FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVES 06.2022
We helped the Danish Architecture Centre to enable 20 chief executives and techical directors of municipalities from across Denmark to learn from the achievements and challenges faced by their counterparts in transforming urban regions in the Northwest of UK. From Victorian pubs to modern skyscapers we experienced city transformation.
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."
VISION PLAN FOR ZURICH CENTRAL STATION 05.2022
What role can the environment of a central station play in the city centre of the future? Insightful answers are emerging in a co-creative process that is testing new visions for all the public spaces surrounding Zürich Central Station. Partner, Oliver Schulze, has been appointed by The City of Zürich as the public space expert serving in the jury.
TEACHING STRATEGIC URBAN GOVERNANCE 05.2022
Why is long-term strategic governance of cities important? How is it done best? Partner, Louise Grassov, has teamed up with the Danish Architecture Center to inspire cities all over Denmark in a series of educational seminars. First stops are Albertslund and Kolding, presenting to the local city councils.
JURY SELECTS ADAPTIVE RE-USE PROJECT 05.2022
Jury member, Oliver Schulze, has supported Halter AG in the selection of a public realm-led plan for the transformation of the Attisholz-Areal; an iconic paper factory at the foot of the Jura mountains. Congratulations to DnD Landschaftsplanung and Freimüller-Söllinger. See the great winning design proposal here.
COLLABORATING WITH JAN GEHL 05.2022
We have drawn up visuals for the refurbishment of the main square in Vanløse, Copenhagen, in a public engagement process led by Jan Gehl himself. Jan was the boss of Schulze+Grassov’s founding partners, Oliver Schulze and Louise Grassov, for many years and we are happy to be helping our longtime friend and mentor today.
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.
TRANSFORMING AN ICONIC DANISH SQUARE 04.2022
For the City of Frederiksberg we have delivered a strategic vision for Nordens Plads in Copenhagen. The public square is placed in front of the Modernist icon Domus Vista, and it is currently used for car parking. We are shaping a vision to create a greener and more pedestrian friendly neighbourhood, designed to respect the human scale.
FUNDING FOR HELGA LARSENS PLADS 03.2022
We are helping the City of Copenhagen to transform Helga Larsens Plads. Working with city and local stakeholders our analysis shaped a vision that could be costed to secure public funding for improvements to this important public square in Vanløse. We are eager to see what the future holds for Helga Larsens Plads.
10 YEARS TEACHING PUBLIC REALM DESIGN 02.2022
Partner, Oliver Schulze, delivered the kickoff lecture for his annual Lively City workshop at Washington University in St. Louis. The lecture gives insight into 10 years of public realm design here at Schulze+Grassov. The lecture was open to the public, and you can (re)watch the lecture here.
CREATING LOW CARBON FUTURES IN THE UK 02.2022
We are currently in Manchester for workshops on the development of new urban neighbourhoods, at Red Bank. We are co-directing a masterplan that is conceived as a direct response to Manchester City Council's declaration of a climate emergency. 50% open space anchored by a Climate Loop will make high density housing livable.
IMPROVING SAFETY IN DANISH SUBURBS 02.2022
We are helping BO-VEST to create better public realm at the heart of existing social housing areas in Albertslund. The area’s walking paths are separated from the streets following design ideas from the 1960’s, creating unsafe environments for local residents and business owners. Rethinking the Radburn plan in Denmark.
BARBICAN CENTRE CONTEST FINALISTS 01.2022
As finalists for the Barbican Centre renewal contest in London we worked together with a collaborative team including Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Bureau de Change, Thinc, and others to develop a vision for how this important centre for the arts can be transformed in the next decade. Congratulations to the winning team.
HAPPY LIVING IN COPENHAGEN CITY CENTRE 12.2021
In the streets of Puggaardsgade and Livjægergade we have redesigned two historic courtyards from the 1800's. Both projects are under construction and awaiting take-over by happy Copenhagen residents. The projects are funded by the City of Copenhagen to increase livabilty and resilience in historic residential areas.
TEACHING SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN 11.2021
Partner, Louise Grassov, is back at University of Washington in Seattle, US, for the 8th year, bringing her expertise to the students in the Scan|Design Master Studio for two weeks of workshops. This year’s studio is designing a “Climate District”, and the students are drawing inspiration from their study tour in Copenhagen.
PRESERVATION THROUGH DEVELOPMENT 11.2021
The City of Copenhagen asked us to look at the vibrant residential and industrial areas near Rentemestervej. The local community is experiencing significant commercial development pressure. To preserve the area’s unique, historic character we led a co-creative process to draw up a plan for development, public realm and mobility.
COME SEE OUR TECH MATCH BIKE 11.2021
Interested in algorithms, bikes and smart city surveys? We will be at the Building Green conference at Forum, Copenhagen, representing our Tech Match project. Find us and many other smart projects at the on the balcony level where Landscape Architect Krista Doersch will tell you more about our unique tech-based survey techniques.
PRESENTING OUR FINAL PLAN FOR NEUSS 10.2021
Together with Dietrich I Untertrifaller Architekten and Stete Planung we are presenting our final competition entry for Neuss Wendersplatz in Germany. We have a vision to transform a car park and traffic intersection into a public space for the future. Let us see if Neuss has the courage to move the city centre towards the river Rhine.
LOOK OVER OUR SHOULDERS 09.2021
At the Danish Architecture Center, Partner Oliver Schulze and Urban Designer Andrea Dynnes are presenting our work to bachelor students from the ‘Urban, Energy and Environmental Planning’ programme at Aalborg University. Aalborg University is known to teach the art of collaboration – something we highly value.
PARTNER OLIVER SCHULZE TURNS 50, 09.2021
The double: Our founder and partner, Oliver Schulze, is turning 50 and being awarded the Danish citizenship this week. We all highly value Oliver Schulze both personally and professionally. He is always striving to share our visionary approach to urban design in the office and on the road. Get to know Oliver Schulze better here.
"HOW TO MAKE SOMEWHERE OUT OF NOWHERE" 09.2021
The Guardian newspaper calls our Design District project a lesson in "how to make somewhere out of nowhere". We love that. Read the article here, or take a dive into our public realm design on our "Projects" page and learn how we helped to shape the architect's brief for 16 buildings. Photographer: Taran Wilkhu.
DESIGN DISTRICT IN FINANCIAL TIMES 09.2021
Read The Financial Time’s coverage of the newly opened Design District and get a glimpse of what it is like to walk the passageways and co-working yards we have delivered for this young community. The article describes the important role that the Design District takes on for the creative sector in London. Photographer: Taran Wilkhu.
LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS IN LONDON 09.2021
London’s new creative neighbourhood, Design District, has officially opened to the public. We have designed all the open spaces and we are proud to see how our ideology has helped us to shape a strong vision for the project. Our public realm design has become what we always wanted: Life Between Buildings. Photographer: Taran Wilkhu.
A NEW SQUARE FOR THE PEOPLE 08.2021
We have been selected to draw up a vision and space programme for Helga Larsens Plads in Vanløse. The City of Copenhagen wants us to work closely with residents and stakeholders to make the central space a much better place for the local Copenhagen neighbourhood in the future. We will help to secure funding for the new square.
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