Here in the Western world we are faced with many challenges: the planet’s long-term survival, regeneration of the welfare society, globalisation and people’s need for experiences and meaning. We want to be involved and change the world for the better. For us, projects are never primarily a matter of technology and drawings. Our sights are set on creating physical space at all levels in which people and businesses can grow together.
In our opinion, the most important matter for the future is the planet’s survival. Construction is responsible for 40% of energy consumption and has a major impact on the utilisation of resources and emissions of hazardous substances. For more than ten years our environmental specialists have worked tirelessly to spread knowledge and solutions for a sustainable world. We integrate environmental issues in our architectural assignments from day one, ensuring that we identify solutions that reduce energy consumption and other environmental loads. We work extremely hard every day to reduce our own environmental load, for example by opting to a large extent to travel by train instead by air.
Nowadays the need for context and meaning is greater than ever, with increased specialisation and an explosion of knowledge divided up into ever smaller chunks. Many people are creating pieces of the puzzle, few are putting them together. This applies particularly to construction projects. The physical context, links at the site and in the region, is the starting point. However, the social context, including both physical and virtual proximity, is an important starting point for the architecture. Emotional qualities in the architecture are the next major leap. Function and technology are basic qualities, whereas that which creates actual space in which to grow are emotional qualities connected to the experience of the place and the area. In addition to the predictable.
Financial issues are an essential part of the overall picture. Many people are currently shut out of large parts of the housing market, for example. Segregation is increasing in the Nordic countries. We view lowering the cost of construction as a major challenge, not least in order to economise on joint funds and to make the public sector competitive. We believe that the overall picture, context and meaning are necessary concepts for meeting the challenges facing the Western world. We want to change.
Such an attitude demands processes incorporating openness, inquisitiveness and integrity. We want to pull down the barriers between the various players in the construction sector and work towards clear, jointly formulated goals in each project. The goals are based on how people and businesses can be encouraged to grow in the project in question. We are happy to lead integration processes of this type. We believe in dialogue.
We believe that the challenges of sustainability, globalisation, social stability and people’s self-fulfilment demand new solutions within architecture and construction. Function, design, technology, process and economy require smart new solutions. We are working on this every day in close co-operation with users, customers, consultants and contractors. We are doing this in our projects, although also though extensive development work in the form of R&D projects and projects developed in-house where we also assume the role of client.
We summarise our attitude as “Together towards tomorrow”. This may sound naïve, but for us it is what architecture is all about.
Anders Svensson, CEO
