Spaces for Knowledge and Growth

Interviews about the office buildings

and headquarters of tomorrow

Spaces for knowledge and growth

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• office, noun 1. a building that belongs to a company or organisation, with

rooms where people can work at desks- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

3 | Spaces for know

ledge and growth

Spaces for knowledgeand growthHenning Larsen Architects is behind the development of numerous

innovative corporate headquarters and office buildings, based on the

vision of designing spaces for knowledge and growth. For all businesses,

activating knowledge across the organisation is essential.

Work assignments are increasingly detached from time and place, from

offices and departments. Meetings can take many shapes, and informal

and planned meetings complement each other. New ideas are born when

the knowledge of an orgnisation is activated. Changing settings stimulate

our creativity and diversify traditional thinking. Architecture can serve as

a manifestation of an organisation's culture and identity .

The design of Henning Larsen Architects' educational buildings are based

on this knowledge. Impulses from our physical surroundings, from the city

and from other people, are decisive for a creative and innovative learning

environment. When we design offices and corporate headquarters, we

draw on this experience. Architecture should set the employees free and

provide room for them to inspire each other.

It is essential for the efficiency and productivity of an organiation that

the employees have the possibility to change between different work

environments for different job tasks during the day. An office building

should provide spaces for focused, individual work; spaces for informal

meetings and creativity; flexible spaces for organised meetings;

spaces for relaxation etc. A flexible design ensures a building that can

accomodate the changing needs of the organisation in the future.

Ensuring a healthy indoor climate and good work environment forms

a natural part of our sustainability strategy, in both large and small

projects. Our specialists continuously work to optimise the buildings'

energy performance, economic and social qualities already in the earliest

design stages - based on state-of-the-art research and knowledge.

Architecture has great influence on the development of society. Through

architecture, companies can assume social responsibility for the society

that they form part of.

EDITING + TEXT: Josefine Lykke Jensen

LAYOUT: Thomas Joakim Winther

TRANSLATION: Cecilie Qvistgaard

PHOTOS

Agnete Schlichtkrull (cover, pp 5, 11, 31), Cordelia Ewerth (pp 8,9), Kontraframe (pp 6, 7)

Other illustrations: Henning Larsen Architects

TIME LINE

Galleria degli Uffizi; Giorgio Vasari et al., photo: Samuli Lintula Larkin Building; Frank Lloyd Wright, photo: Wikimedia Commons Woolworth

Building; Cass Gilbert, photo: Velvet Empire State Building; Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, photo: Kadellar Seagram Building; Mies van der Rohe,

Philip Johnson, photo: Tom Ravenscroft Bank of Denmark; Arne Jacobsen, Dissing+Weitling photo: gcbb BMW HQ; Karl Schwanzer, photo: Cccc3333

Lloyd's London; Richard Rogers, photo: Sue Adair SAS Headquarters; Niels Torp, photo: Holger Ellgaard Dentsu Building; Jean Nouvel, photo:

Tyoron2 Apple HQ; Sobrato Development Company, photo: Kristen Nicole PricewaterhouseCoopers; Renzo Piano, Christopher Kohlbecker, photo:

Andreas Steinhoff Gherkin Building; Foster + Partners, Ken Shuttleworth photo: Andy Wright Burj Khalifa; Adrian Smith, William F. Baker, George

J. Efstathiou, Marshall Strabala photo: Imre Solt CCTV; OMA photo: Christian Nesset One World Trade Center; Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, photo:

Joe Woolhead Apple HQ; Foster + Partners, illustration: Foster + Partners

COLLABORATORS

Crystal Towers; Thornton Tomasetti, Hoare Lea Consulting Engineers, Geoffrey Barnett Associates Egedal City Hall and Health Centre; SLA, Henrik

Larsen Consulting Engineers, Jørgen Nielsen Consulting Engineers, Züblin Energinet.dk Office Building; Dahl Entreprise, Schul Landscape Architects,

Hansen, Carlsen & Frølund Consulting Engineers NCC Headquarters; NCC Property Development, FutureBuilt New Main EPO; BAM / Ballast, Arup,

Topotek1 Nordea Bank Ørestad North; SLA, Signal Architects Novo Nordisk Corporate Centre; SLA, Alectia Siemens HQ; Topotek1, Werner Sobek,

Transsolar, PMI, Müller BBM, AG Licht, CL MAP Spiegel HQ; Höhler+Partner, WES & Partner Landschaftsarchitekten, Ingenieurbüro Dr. Binnewies,

DS-Plan, Schlegel und Reußwig, Kardorff Ingenieure Lichtplanung, Ippolito Fleitz Group Viborg City Hall; Cowi, LiW Planning

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5 | Contents

Contents 5

Interview: Spaces for knowledge and growth 13

Siemens HQ 17

New Main EPO 21

History of the office building 24

Time line 28

Relation to the city 30

Nordea Bank Ørestad North 33

Interview: Design with knowledge 37

Microsoft HQ 41

50 years' experience 44

About Henning Larsen Architects 52

p. 13

p. 17

p. 37

p. 44

p. 33

Contents

Louis Becker, Partner and Director, Henning Larsen Architects,

takes stock of the architectural development of the office building

and draws a picture of the future.

Overview of the historical development of the office building from

the first office building, Uffizi Gallery, in Florence until today.

The Department of Sustainability works with both new buildings

and renovation projects. Signe Kongebro tells about the newest

trends in sustainable office design.

Henning Larsen Architects has designed corporate headquarters

and office buildings all over the world for more than 50 years. The

time line provides an overview of the diverse range of projects.

Location: Viborg, Denmark

Construction period: 2009 - 2011

Gross floor area: 19,400 m2

Viborg City Hll is designed as 'a city within the city', as a symbol of the new

municipal community that was established in the wake of the municipal

merger in 2007. It is Denmark's first low-energy city hall.

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Viborg City Hall

Location: Ballerup, Denmark



Energinet.dk's new office building in Ballerup, on the outskirts of Copen-

hagen, is a genuine low-energy house. The lowest energy class has been

achieved exclusively by means of optimising the design and geometry.

The office building consists of three main elements: meeting facilities, an

atrium and workstations.

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Energinet.dkEnerginet.dk

Location: Hamburg, Germany



Spiegel HQ consolidates the various departments of the Spiegel Group in a

new modern and flexible building volume. The building complex consists of

three large glass volumes, placed on a joint tile base. Spiegel HQ has been

awarded a Gold Medal in HafenCity's ambitious sustainability certification

scheme 'HafenCity Umweltzeichen', and the other volume Ericus Contor has

achieved the DGNB Gold certification.

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Spiegel HQ

In recent years, we have seen a trend towards commercial buildings taking more and more after educational buildings. Businesses

require work environments centred around knowledge-sharing and knowledge generation.

- Louis Becker, Director and Partner, Henning Larsen Architects

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13 | Spaces for know

ledge and growth

Louis Becker is Director and Partner

at Henning Larsen Architects. He

has been employed in the company

since 1989.

Nordea Bank's new headquarters in

Ørestad, Copenhagen, is organised

as a city, offering quiet, more

intimate spaces as well as squares

and streets full of life and activity.

Interview: Spaces for knowledge and growthCorporate headquarters around the world are some of the strongest

icons of the 20th century. They not only reflect economic, technological

and social developments but also our view on the business community's

significance in society. Louis Becker takes stock and draws a picture of

the future.

Henning Larsen Architects has designed office buildings and corporate

headquarters world-wide through half a century. What is the secret behind

successful commercial buildings?

A successful commercial building supports the organisation's dynamics,

corporate culture and image. Architecture cannot make a change in itself

but it plays an essential role in making change possible. The main change

that many businesses aim for at present is to integrate knowledge-

sharing as a generator for growth in the organisation. One of our main

architectural ambitions is to promote knowledge-sharing and social

interaction across the organisation. Thus, our commercial buildings are

designed around a number of large common, synergy-creating spaces.

Nordea Bank's new headquarters in Ørestad North, Copenhagen, is a

good example of this ambition realised in practice. The building is visually

and physically unified in the large atrium where everyone can feel each

other's presence, whether participating in a closed meeting or in a large,

open workshop. This provides a physical transparency in the organisation,

which reflects its corporate values.

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Another important point is that successful office buildings create spaces

for knowledge and growth. In recent years, we have seen a trend towards

commercial buildings taking more and more after educational buildings.

Businesses require work environments centred around knowledge-

sharing and knowledge generation. Thus, we also draw on our experience

from educational and research institutions when we design commercial

buildings. The two types of organisations can inspire and raise each other

to new levels.

You mention that successful commercial buildings offer spaces for knowledge

and growth. How does Henning Larsen Architects promote such spaces?

We engage in dialogue with the specific organisation as early in the

process as possible. It is essential to balance expectations, but also to

discuss and for us to introduce some of our many ideas about good office

environments. This applies to all our projects. We are experts in developing

architecture, but it is the users who are experts in being users. And then it

is our job to balance good architecture against good experiences.

The core of our buildings has always been the meeting between people.

To create a stimulating setting for human activity – as the social and

knowledgeable individuals we are, regardless of context. This is also our

approach to commercial buildings.

The design of commercial buildings has undergone a tremendous

development in the last 50 years. How do today's ideas about successful

commercial buildings differ from previous times?

For a long time, office buildings have been designed as small cities within

the city. This is for instance illustrated by the choice of names for the

various functions, such as 'the square', 'the cafe' and 'the meeting plaza'.

This is still the case, but what has changed is how the small city within the

city today becomes fully integrated into the 'real' city. This means that

people who do not necessarily work or have business at the company's

premises can still use its public functions, shortcuts and meeting places.

Such interaction adds value to both the organisation and the city. A good

example is Siemens' new headquarters in Munich. The public 'floor' in the

building ensures a continuos flow of people using the building as part of

their daily errands in the city. This meets Siemens' wish to signal openness

and desire to share.

The development of corporate headquarters owes to changing ways of

working and thinking. We are no longer depending on sitting by a desk. We

can go online all over the world as our primary product is our knowledge.

Hence, it is very much about making the headquarters a knowledge-

sharing base. But it is also about creating a physical framework which the

company can identify itself with. A headquarters or office building is still

the organisation's physical manifestation – their showroom to the outside

world.

Today, you could not imagine a building that is not based on sustainable

principles. To which degree does the increased focus on sustainability

influence the design of office buildings?

Sustainability is an essential theme in commercial building. It is both

necessary and important to respond to climate change and use of

resources, which are at top of the global agenda. Many organisations wish

to demonstrate that this is a theme they take seriously. In this context,

architecture is an obvious response.

Earlier, sustainability was a very abstract and intangible concept. Today,

national and international standards for low-energy building make it

possible to very precisely measure the gain of individual sustainable

measures. At Siemens HQ, for instance, we have worked intensively with

the geometry and angles of the facade to ensure optimal daylight and

reduce the use of artificial lighting. This is beneficial to the environment,

the economy and the people working in the building. And that is something

every business owner can relate to.


ledge and growth

1407

FEHLEN VON INFORMELLEN URBANEN ATTRAKTOREN KLONEN DER INNERSTÄDTISCHEN DNAIN DAS SIEMENS-GRUNDSTÜCK

ÜBERLAGERUNG DER CHARAKTERISTIKA

URBANE ANALYSE

1407

DURCHWEGUNG DURCH SIEMENS-HÖFE

ZIEL

EPISODEN INSPIRIERT VON MÜNCHEN

KONFIGURATION

VERBINDUNG

Siemens HQ in Munich is situated

on the border between the old

historic city centre and the

museum quarter. The lower

part of the building is publicly

accessible and contributes to

bringing together the two parts of

the city, which used to be sharply

separated.

Before After

Siemens HQ

Where office buildings in recent decades have had a tendency to be

isolated outside the cities, Siemens' new headquarters in Munich is

situated in the city centre. A publicly accessible ground floor opens up

the headquarters and promotes its interaction with the local community.

The world's largest supplier of sustainable and environmental solutions,

Siemens, will move into a new global headquarters in Munich in 2015.

The development of the building has focused on creating a modern work

environment for Siemens' employees, while at the same time letting the

organisaton give something back to the city in the shape of a vibrant

urban space, accessible to everyone.

The new headquarters consists of four rectangular, rounded volumes at-

tached to a central vertical structure that connects the entire building

complex. The heart of the building, the atrium, is situated in the middle of

the building and is accessible from all sides. The public access to Siemens

creates a continuous flow of guests and passers-by and signals that cor-

porate architecture of the 21st century is open and inviting. The top floor is

designed to provide the setting for public events, allowing guests to enjoy

the skyline of the city.

The central 'Interaction Zone' connects the various office spaces and

represents the key concepts behind the organisation of the building

– Communication, Interaction and Innovation. In addition, the office

levels are connected by bridges, creating a continuous floor stretching

through the entire building complex. State-of-the-art energy and climate

technologies produced by Siemens are incorporated into the design, which

thus also serves to demonstrate the organisation's product portolio.

PROJECT FACTSLocation

Munich, Germany

Client

Siemens

Gross floor area

45,000 m2

Construction period

2011 - 2015

17 | Siem

ens HQ

“We are creating a future-oriented symbol of sustainability that will set the standard for advanced urban architecture and

innovative, efficient building technology – for the benefit of our employees and the citizens of Munich.”

- CEO Peter Löscher, Siemens

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New Main EPO


ledge and growth

New

Main EP

O

New Main, the new headquarters of the European Patent Office in

Rijswijk, the Netherlands, is a manifestation of the core values of the

EPO: Trust, Transparency, Fairness and Respect. The new, dense buil-

ding structure unites the existing building volumes and New Main.

The building complex consists of a low base comprising public and semi-

public functions, a 23-storey-high tower comprising offices and a new

park area to the south. The functional layout of the base centres around

the new arrivals area.

The tower is organised so that it reflects the requirement for both

privacy and interation, two core needs in EPO's work environment. The

two reflected modules constituting the majority of the tower are clea-

rly divided into zones for concentrated/focused work in individual cell of-

fices and more open zones for internal communication. The thin 'hinge'

connecting the two building volumes allows daylight to pour far into the

building and acts as the vertical backbone of the entire structure.

The tower is characterised by two types of facades: a three-

dimensional facade by the office zones and a smooth, two-dimensional

facade by the interaction zones. The sloping windows of the facade have

many technical advantages. They help to reduce glaring and excess heat in-

side the building, while at the same time enhancing the transparency of the

building and minimising the need for solar protection.

Rising up 100 metres, New Main will stand out as an icon, not only in

the city's skyline but in the entire region. At the same time, the varied

building symmetry offers users a magnificent view of the city and open,

Dutch landscape from alle floor levels.


The Hague, the Netherlands

Client

European Patent Office

Gross floor area

76,800 m2

Design

2013

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In New Main, the EPO organisation and building are consid-ered as a whole. The flexibility of the new headquarters optimises working procedures and flows and allows the management to use

the building as a tool to facilitate various work situations. - Louis Becker, direktør og partner, Henning Larsen Architects

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The office building is one of the great icons of the 20th century… [As] the most visible index of economic activity, of social,

technological, and financial progress, they have come to symbolise much of what this century has been about.

– Francis (Frank) Duffy, Architect and Writer

25 | H

istory of the office building

History of the office buildingThe architectural development of office buildings and corporate

headquarters is connected to our approach to business development

through the years. Corporate architecture has taken new shapes as

business strategies have changed from focusing on cost minimisation

to acknowledging the significance of cross-organisational synergy.

The need for a new architectural typology comprising administrative

functions alone arose in the wake of the industrialisation in the end of the

past century. The economic recovery called for new means of transport

and communication which made it possible to separate production and

administration. The railway network, the telegraph and later the telephone

allowed businesses to place their headquarters in the large cities – far

away from the noise and dirt of the factories.

The American Model

In the beginning of the 20th century, the North-Americans were the first

to realise the idea of an actual office building. Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin

Building marked the beginning of what was commonly referred to as white

collar factories. The mass-production mindset from the factories was

passed on to the new office buildings, but the employees could now assert

themselves as clerks dressed in white, without worrying about dirt or

sweat caused by hard physcial labour. The Larkin Building in Buffalo, New

York, is a good example of some of the earliest office buildings, where

the widespread use of supervision, control, hierachy and rank was clearly

reflected in the physical appearance of the building.

Mass-production of office buildings truly became a reality in the start

of the 21st century in New York and Chicago. The invention of the steel

frame structure and elevator made it possible to fully exploit the relatively

small plots. It was about making best value for money, and all new office

buildings were higher than their predecessors. This led to the development

of the skyscraper, which was the preferred commercial typology in the US

for a long time.

The English term 'office' stems

from the term 'Ufficio', which

means office. The Uffizi Gallery

in Florence is considered as the

world's first office building.

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In the beginning of the 1970s, a new type of office building got its official

name. Silicon Valley is the world's first example of a so-called business

park, solely serving corporate purposes. Business parks started to rise

in the American suburbs as construction costs were lower in these areas

compared to in the cities and the possibilities to expand larger. In the

business parks, the individual companies were not subject to the planning

regulations of the city and were thus free to organise their own territory

as desired. Later, the business parks came to Europe, where they are often

situated in connection with large infrastructural networks.

For approx. 100 years, North America and American architects had a

leading position in the development of office buildings. The Europeans

more or less copied the American high-rises, just in smaller scale. However,

this trend started to change in the 1960s.

The North European Model

With the development of open plan offices in Germany in the 1960s, the

Northern Europeans started to overtake the Americans with a new type

of office building. Open plan offices were quickly replaced by cell offices

again, but the seeds of a more open, flat organisation of the office

building had been sowed. In the 1980s, the idea of the office building as

an independent 'city within the city' really started to spread in Northern

Europe. The inspiration came from the Scandinavian design tradition, and

the objective was efficient and satisfied employees.

SAS' headquarters in Stockholm from 1985 is a good example of the

Northern European idea. The project is developed as a city structure with

a roofed main street, connecting the individual building volumes and

functions. Each building volume has its own character and contributes

to generating life to the building by means of terraces, balconies

and footbridges in various levels. Functions such as swimming pool

and sports hall, restaurant and café have been incorporated into the

project, fulfilling the vision of an independent city within the city.

The building marked the beginning of an extensive development

of office buildings in Scandinavia, based on this exact idea.

A project, based on a similar idea, had been built by Henning Larsen the

year before, in 1984, as the company's first office building. The Ministry

of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia was recognised for its combination

of being a modern 'office machine' and a true representation of Islamic

buidling tradition: the garden, water and bazar.

SAS' headquarters in Stockholm

from 1985 was one of Scandinavia's

first corporate headquarters

organised as a city within the city.

As soon as in the beginning of the 1960s, Henning Larsen built on the idea

about the building as a city within the city with projects such as Stockholm

University and Freie Universität in Berlin. The parallel development of

educational and commercial buildings has followed the work of Henning

Larsen Architects ever since.

Office building of the future

The development of the office building is naturally related to the way we

work. Since the first white collar factories, the office typology has gone

through various development stages in the attempt to accommodate

changing needs. The structural differences between the American city,

which was based on a strict grid, and the European medieval city made

the office building develop in different directions. Where the American

model sought to adapt the company to the building out of economic

considerations, the Europeans took a more human approach and worked

to adapt the building to the company.

Today, a successful office building is not only considered as a static

framework for the day-to-day work. Successful commercial buildings

should support the corporate culture and brand of the organisation and

enhance its relation to the world around it. Relations will be a key work in

the office building of the future.

Employees are today considered as one of the company's most important

resources, and the fight for well-educated staff is tough. Thus, you

could imagine a rising trend for smaller office communities outside the

organisation to allow the employees to stay in their local environment.

27 | H

istory of the office building

Sketch for Henning Larsen's first

realised office building: The

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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1931

1913 1954 1972 1986

1905 1961 1986

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Uffizi GalleryFlorence, Italy

Empire State BuildingNew York, US

Woolworth BuildingNew York, US

BMW HQMunich, Germany

SAS HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden

Seagram BuildingNew York, US

Larkin BuildingBuffalo, US

Bank of Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark

Lloyd'sLondon, England

29 | Tim

e line

1988 2000 2010 2013

1988 2003 2012 2014

Dentsu BuildingTokyo, Japan

Burj KhalifaDubai, UAE

One World Trade CenterNew York, US

PricewaterhouseCoopers Berlin, Germany

Apple HQCupertino, US

Gherkin BuildingLondon, England

CCTVBeijing, China

Apple HQCupertino, US

Time lineThe world's first office building was built in Florence in the beginning

of the 17th century. However, the office building as we know it today has

been developed over the past 150 years. Take a journey through the

greatest corporate icons in the US and Europe through the years.

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Historically, four office typologies can be identified – primarily

differing from each other in their degree of interaction with the

surrounding urban space. The office building of the future will hugely

benefit from being fully integrated into the city.

Relation to the city

31 | R

elation to the city

Empire State Building in New York was

the highest skyscraper world-wide for a

short time. The building is situated in the

city but appears introvert and closed.

Silicon Valley in the US was the world's first

business park. Today, it comprises thousands

of corporate headquarters, primarily situated

as solitary momuments in a large open space

encircled by parking spaces, fencing and

plantation.

Henning Larsen Architects works with

a new office typology, which integrates

the company in the city and vice versa.

By incorporting public functions into the

company premises, new opportunities for

knowledge-sharing and growth arise.

SAS' headquarters in Stockholm from the

middle of the 70s introduced the idea of the

office building as a city within the city. The

headquarters is situated 7 km from Stockholm

Central Station, with both other commercial

organisations and residences as neighbours.

Closed building

Business park

City within the city

A part of the city

Nordea Bank

Nordea Bank’s new corporate headquarters in Ørestad North will be

situated next to the premises of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation

and the Concert Hall. The headquarters will contribute to the

development of Ørestad as a vibrant city district in Copenhagen.

The Nordea building introduces a new scale in Ørestad – a street level

connecting the large buildings of the district and the characteristic

landscape of Amager Fælled. To the south, the building is characterised

by a sophisticated, sloping park landscape and to the north by an open

ground floor and tile facades on the lower floors.

The offices are placed upon a base, comprising the common and

extrovert functions of the headquarters. This functional layout promotes

collaboration, innovation and knowledge-sharing across departments and

professional fields. The building is organised as a city – offering quiet, more

intimate spaces as well as plazas and streets full of life and activity. The

interaction between efficient open plan offices and informal gathering

points provides an optimal work environment for the individual employee.

Nordea Bank’s new corporate building lives up to the criteria for LEED

Platinum, which is the environmental standard required for all the bank's

new developments. Simulations of the energy consumption of the design

has been conducted through studies of volumes, materials, room heights,

light and shadows, noise and wind as well as the usability of inside and

outside spaces. Subsequently, the building’s energy consumption has

been further reduced through qualified selection and application of

efficient technology.


Ørestad North, Copenhagen,

Denmark

Client

Nordea Properties

Gross floor area

40,000 m2

Construction period

2013 - 2016

33 | N

ordea Bank

We know that an average knowledge employee only spend approx. 30-50 % of his time by the desk. Therefore, we have

focused on providing facilities which also allow for other work situations.

- Søren Øllgaard, Architect and Associate Partner, Henning Larsen Architects

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34 |

The derived effects of a sustainable design and construction process hold far-reaching advantages. Incorporating sustainable solutions

in office buildings is reflected positively internally in the organisation and forms the basis of a better dialogue with

authorities and other stakeholders. - Signe Kongebro, Associate Partner and Head of Sustainability, Henning Larsen Architects

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37 | K

nowledge-based design

Signe Kongebro is Associate

Partner and Head of Henning

Larsen Architects' Department of

Sustainability.

Interview:Knowledge-based designSustainable office building is about much more than technical

ventilation solutions and solar cells on the roof. It is also about happy,

efficient employees and social responsibility. Signe Kongebro tells

about the newest trends in sustainable office design.

How have you experienced the development of sustainability in recent years

in relation to office buildings and corporate headquarters, and how does

Henning Larsen Architects contribute to this development?

As all other sustainable buildings, sustainable office buildings are based

on a number of environmental, economic and social considerations. If you

unfold the last aspect a bit more, it is about asking yourself questions

such as: "How do we make it nice to go to work in this building? Which

needs do the individual departments have in relation to space, acoustics

and light? Which human values should the architecture support?"

Today, the key to growth is productivity and efficiency, and this is only

obtained in office environments where the employees thrive and do not

get ill. In sustainable office buildings, we combine measurable sustainable

solutions as regards energy consumption and economy and research-based

knowledge that we transform into good spaces and healthy buildings. This

applies to both new buildings and renovations.

For the past 20 years, office buildings have been characterised by a

homogeneous 'glass box aesthetics'. Large, transparent icons have risen

all over the world without consideration for regional climate conditions –

based on the belief that this type of building symbolised transparency and

openness to the outside world. However, the reality is that glass houses

are often experienced as very introvert.

If you look at a glass house during the day, it does not appear transparent,

but dark. Glass houses reflect the world they actually want to interact

with. Further, they are very easily overheated and thus spend a lot of

resources on mobile solar protection and cooling. Last, but not least,

the architectural quality has become poorer because local materials and

building traditions have been forgotten.

q

FACTS

More than 85 % of companies'

operating costs are spent on

salaries. In comparison, they spend

approx. 10 % on rent and less than

1 % on energy consumption.

Source: RICS. (2010). Is

Sustainability Reflected in

Commercial Property Prices: An

Analysis of the Evidence Base.

Research Report.

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Fortunately, this has changed. Today, we look at each facade separately and

place all functions carefully in relation to light and shadow. In this way, we

optimise the indoor air quality without necessarily implementing technical

cooling and ventilation solutions. This method we call 'knowledge-based

design', and this is exactly how we as architects and engineers can

contribute to the development of sustainable buildings.

What do companies get out of taking a sustainable approach to building

and renovation projects?

For companies, this is about business. They want to optimise operating

and maintenance costs, flexibility and renting expenses. They require

measurable solutions right away.

But it is also about knowledge and growth and about attracting and

sustaining talented employees and making the most of them. If

companies look at the overall economy and factore in future savings in

energy consumption and sick days, we achieve a win-win situation for the

company and employees as well as for the environment.

Today, most people have realised that sustainability is about more

than technology, and that the derived effects of a sustainable design

and construction process have far-reaching advantages. Incorporating

sustainable solutions in office buildings is reflected positively internally

in the organisation in the form of a better work environment and happier

employees. It also forms the basis of a better dialogue with authorities

and other stakeholders who all have a say when a new office building is

designed or an existing one is renovated.

Could you provide any specific examples of how to address sustainability

issues in the building sector now – and in future?

When you talk about sustainability and office buildings, the large challenge

is that the buildings become overheated. Many people and machines simply

generate much heat – and thus, it requires a lot of energy and economic

resources to maintain a good indoor air quality. So, it is basically about

minimising the need for cooling without use of heavy technical equipment.

Thus, it can be an advantage to place your company in a dense city

environment where the surrounding buildings serve as 'free' solar

protection.

In the city, companies are part of an energy circuit – the companies want to

dispose of excess heat, and the households want to buy heat. By creating

such a circuit, resources are exploited more intensively. It is the same as

with parking spaces in the cities, which are filled up by commuters' cars

in daytime, while the citizens use them at night time. However, a circuit

like this requires that you get an understanding of energy and daylight as

common resources, and there are som administrative obstacles to this

today.

Seen from an energy perspective, companies are a necessity in the city

because they have the opposite needs of the households. However, they

are also necessary seen from a social perspective. Today, we see a smooth

transition between office space and urban space, achieved by integrating

publicly accessible functions and areas into the office buildings. This

makes companies truly transparent and demonstrates that they assume

responsibility for city life and comfort. In addition to these measures, the

employees' contact to the surrounding community is further strengthened

by introducing balconies and green roof terraces that integrate the city in

the building and vice versa.

Microsoft's Danish headquarters

will be situated in the heart of

Lyngby, north of Copenhagen. The

urban context ensures the

organisation's interaction with the

other businesses in the city as well

as the students from the adjacent

Technical University of Denmark.

39 | K

nowledge-based design

Microsoft HQ

41 | M

icrosoft HQ

Microsoft’s new headquarters forms part of the organisation’s over-

all vision to create the workplace of the future. The employees are

supported in their different ways of thinking, working and collaborating

through a flexible interior layout, based on state-of-the-art technologies.

As the first place in Europe, Microsoft consolidates its development

and sales departments under the same roof in a new headquarters in

Lyngby. Henning Larsen Architects and the remaining team of

consultants have had a close dialogue with Microsoft during the

entire process. This has resulted in an innovative corporate headquarters,

offering unique urban spaces and green recreational areas accessible to

everyone.

In addition to Microsoft's new Danish headquarters, the building complex

will comprise student residences and retail facilities. Thus, the project will

bring citizens, students and business community close together. The café

and technology area will be open to everyone, and there will be a study

area in the headquarters allocated for students. Further, Microsoft will

regularly hold different kinds of events to connect the company even

closer to the local community and Denmark.

The complex as a whole will meet the requirements for modern

sustainable buildings. To reduce energy consumption, focus has been on

exploiting the passive properties of the building – and for instance, an

advanced building envelope offering minimal heat loss, high density and

efficient solar protection has been developed.

Henning Larsen Architects' competencies in space planning and interior

design have been core to the project development to allow for optimal

synergy between interior design and indoor climate. Focus areas include

daylight and artificial light, colour and material selection and acoustics.


Lyngby, Denmark

Client

Danica Pension

Gross floor area

40,000 m2

Construction period

2013 - 2016

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In daytime, the open ground floor levels featuring mixed retail options will generate life and activity to the area. In the evening,

the intimacy and light created by the residences will ensure a safe and attractive street environment.

- Signe Kongebro, Associate Partner and Head of Sustainability, Henning Larsen Architects

20001963 1982

1974 1992 2009

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Nordea Bank HQ ChristiansbroCopenhagen,Denmark

Ministry of Foreign AffairsRiyadh,Saudi Arabia

Danish Embassy in Saudi ArabiaRiyadh,Saudi Arabia

Freie UniversitätBerlin,Germany

Gentofte LibraryGentofte,Denmark

Trondheim University Trondheim,Norway

Nation CentreNairobi,Kenya

Ferring Int. CentreCopenhagen,Denmark

WinghouseØrestad,Denmark

Multi-Tenant Office Building Odense HarbourOdense,Denmark

50 years' experienceHenning Larsen Architects is behind a number of innovative corporate

headquarters and office buildings world-wide. The time line below

shows a selection of Henning Larsen Architects' projects through the

years. All projects have contributed to the formulation of a clear design

philosophy in which knowledge-sharing and social interaction across the

organisation are keyworlds.

45 | 50 years' experience

2011

20152013

2014 2016

Energinet.dk Office BuildingBallerup,Denmark

Novo Nordisk Corporate CentreBagsværd,Denmark

Crystal TowersRiyadh,Saudi Arabia

Egedal City Hall and Heath CentreEgedal, Denmark

Viborg City HallViborg,Denmark

NCC HeadquartersOslo,Norway

Microsoft HQ DenmarkLyngby, Denmark

Siemens HQMunich, Germany

Nordea Bank HQ Ørestad,Denmark

Spiegel HQHamburg, Germany

Architecture should create a dynamic setting where people can meet – to create synergy between employees across pro-fessional fields and between employees and guests from all over the world. This has been the vision behind the design of the new corporate centre.- Søren Øllgaard, architect and associated partner, Henning Larsen Architects

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Location: Bagsværd, Denmark



Novo Nordisk Corporate Centre in Bagsværd, Denmark, will house the

company's executive management and 1,100 administrative employees.

The architecture is characterised by a simple design and provides a func-

tional and sustainable work environment for the users.

Novo Nordisk

Location: Oslo, Norway



NCC's new headquarters in Oslo is designed in collaboration with NCC

Property Development as a modern passive house. The building meets

FutureBuilt's criteria for climate-neutral building and will spearhead the

development of sustainable projects in Norway.

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NCC Oslo

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Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia



Within the new King Abdullah Financial District in Saudi Arabia’s capital,

the Crystal Towers are situated in a unique location between the Financial

Plaza - the financial centre of the masterplan - and the Wadi - a verdant

pedestrian thoroughfare. The orientation of the two 18 and 26-storey

towers is designed to create a visual and physical link between these

elements.

Crystal Towers

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About Henning Larsen Architects6 OFFICES

230 EMPLOYEES

21 NATIONALITIES

PROJECTS IN MORE THAN 20 COUNTRIES


ledge and growth

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bout Henning Larsen A

rchitects

Anders Sæ[email protected]

Tel: +45 8233 3075

Søren Ø[email protected]

Tel: +45 8233 3076

Peer Teglgaard [email protected]

Tel: +45 8233 3025

CopenhagenLouis Becker

[email protected]: +45 8233 3020

OsloKasper Kyndesen

[email protected] Tel: +47 4663 3960

MunichWerner Frosch

[email protected] Tel: +49(0)89 856 33 38 - 110

RiyadhNiels Fuglsang

[email protected] Tel: +966 553 8515 88

Istanbul

Anne Marie [email protected]

Tel: +90 535 391 8991

Faroe Islands

Ósbjørn [email protected]

Tel: +45 8233 3070

www.henninglarsen.com

Copenhagen – Oslo – Munich – Istanbul – Riyadh – Faroe Islands

Spaces for Knowledge and Growth

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