schmidt hammer lassen architects has unveiled their new addition to The Rudolf Steiner School in Aarhus, Denmark. The innovative new building, which reflects an interdisciplinary approach to education, has been designed by the practice’s partner Morten Schmidt, a former student of the school.

Danish architectural company schmidt hammer lassen architects has won a 52,863 m2 mixed-use complex “Konstitucijos Avenue 21” in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The project is the result of a successful collaboration with Oslo-based Lund+Slaatto Architects, a strategic partner of schmidt hammer lassen architects. The client had requested cross-scandinavian architect teams for the task which led Lund+Slaatto to invite schmidt hammer lassen to join them.


"The inspiring cooperation with our colleagues from Lund+Slaatto has surely contributed to our winning the project. We would consider expanding our collaboration with them in future projects if they fit both our profiles," said John Lassen, responsible partner for schmidt hammer lassen architects.

Birkerød’s new sports and recreation centre is a multi-purpose hub in Birkerød’s public space. The site is elongated and has two very distinct sides: an urban side with traffic circulating, and a green, recreational side.



The project covers the new build of a multi-purpose sports hall, an activity foyer, a fitness centre, dance studios, a balcony for children and young people and the erection of a covered football stand. It also includes the refurbishment of the existing stadium building.

The Royal Library is one of the most significant architectural landmarks on the Copenhagen waterfront. Clad in black granite, the building is known as the ‘Black Diamond’ – with its clean-cut lines and glittering polished surfaces, the library is now recognised as one of Copenhagens’ architectural gems.

The new building marks a radical shift from the traditional library structure and accommodates a range of cultural facilities. The Royal Library is situated in the historic heart of Copenhagen, and has proved to be a catalyst for the subsequent construction boom along the Copenhagen waterfront in recent years. The new library’s immediate context is a backdrop of important historical buildings such as the Danish Parliament, Christiansborg Palace, The Danish State Archives,Thorvaldsen’s Museum, the Danish Jewish Museum and King Christian IV’s elegant Stock Exchange building, the latter dating to the early 17th century.

Featured this month on Archinnovations for their landmark project “The Royal Library”, schmidt hammer lassen architects (SHL Architects) are also in the news for winning an international competition to design “Urban Mediaspace”, the largest public library in Scandinavia.  The € 228 million (US$ 325 million) scheme, located in Aarhus, Denmark, will become a new visual and cultural focal point for the city whilst pioneering the next generation of library design.

SHL Architects was announced the winner on Tuesday (4th March) after an extensive consultation process with the Municipality of Aarhus; the other practices involved in the competition were a partnership between the Dutch firm Mecanoo and GPP Architects from Denmark and A-Team - a collaboration between two Danish companies, AART and Arkitema.

Scandinavian practice schmidt hammer lassen architects (shla) has been selected to design the masterplan for a commercial and cultural complex that will transform the city centre of Horsens in Western Denmark.

The 70,000 m2 development on the site of a former abattoir is located on a 34,000 m2 site adjacent to the Horsens railway station and will include recreational spaces, office development and new retail facilities.

The Thor Heyerdahl School of Advanced and Further Education in Larvik, Norway was inaugurated today (Friday). The 33,400 m2 new school, designed by the Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen, is the largest new school in Norway. Schmidt hammer lassen won the international competition for the school including a 4000 spectator sports arena in 2005. One year later, the company won the competition for a 25,000 m2 school building of City of Westminster College.
The new school is pointing to the future as a social and educational experiment. The students of the technical educations are deliberately mixed with college students aspiring for later university degrees. Thus, schmidt hammer lassen have made Norwegian thoughts on educational reform concrete.