Low-carbon offices

In the Swedish city of Uppsala, one of Sweden’s most ambitious reuse projects provides a test bed for large-scale circular architecture. The 22,000-square-metre redevelopment transforms a condemned 1970s structure into Lumi, a contemporary life sciences building with office, laboratory, and restaurant spaces. Måns Berg Lumi is certified under LEED v4 BD+C Core and Shell and has achieved a score of 99 out of 110. With the threshold for Platinum set at 80 points, this places the project at the very top of the global ranking. Designed by Scandinavian architecture studio White Arkitekter for Vasakronan, Sweden’s largest real estate company, Lumi is presented as the highest-rated LEED office building in the world. Thanks... More

543 HORTUS is the latest sustainable building at Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area in Allschwil, Switzerland. This life sciences campus brings together research, start-ups, and established companies in a growing hub of low-carbon architecture. Designed by Swiss architectural studio Herzog & de Meuron for the real estate developer SENN, 543 HORTUS was conceived as a model of circular and energy-positive design. The brief called for minimising grey energy in construction, maximising efficiency in operation, and generating a surplus of renewable power. Over its lifetime, the 14,100-square-metre building will offset its embodied energy within 31 years, while accommodating around 600 workplaces. 543 HORTUS represents a new standard for... More

Located in Berlin’s historic Osthafen (East Harbour) on the Spree embankment, Dockyard is a contemporary seven-storey office complex designed by German architectural studio TCHOBAN VOSS Architekten. The 32,141-square-metre building employs a sustainable hybrid timber structure that combines timber, concrete, and recycled steel. With green roofs, expansive glazing to optimise natural light, and a design targeting LEED Platinum, LEED Zero Carbon, and other high-level certifications, Dockyard combines advanced building performance with a clear commitment to climate responsibility. HG Esch HG Esch   Urban redevelopment in Berlin’s East Harbour At the beginning of the 20th century, Berlin’s Osthafen was one of... More

Paradise SE11, the UK’s lowest embodied carbon mass timber office development, has been built in the heart of Lambeth, South London. Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) for Bywater Properties, this fully demountable structure showcases both the immediate and future potential of simple, circular, carbon-conscious, and people-centric design. Paradise demonstrates how architecture can reshape the built environment to actively address the climate emergency. Andy Stagg Andy Stagg FCBStudios   A sustainable building ahead of its time Paradise was completed five years ahead of the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge. Developed by RIBA, these voluntary performance targets measure operational energy use, water... More

Designed by tp bennett, the international architecture and design practice, Stonecutter is a new office building in the City of London that prioritises tenant experience, amenity, and sustainability. Developed by London-based CO—RE fo La Caisse and PIMCO Prime Real Estate, the project brings together ambitious sustainability targets with a design approach attuned to post-pandemic workplace needs. Stonecutter is also the first office development to meet the City of London’s “Aspirational” embodied carbon benchmark in its final built form, delivering lower upfront emissions than any other major new build in the City since Life Cycle Carbon Assessments became mandatory in 2022. Hufton + Crow Photography tp benne... More

ALTA Architectes – Urbanistes has completed an ambitious office project on Chemin du Bois Harel, a road that marks the boundary between Rennes, an industrial city in north-western France, and the neighbouring municipality of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande.  The Harel Wooden Office Complex (Bois Harel Tertiary Complex) takes a measured approach to office architecture, shaped by the dynamics of the site and its relationship to the surrounding landscape. The project responds to contemporary expectations of comfort, sustainability, and usability, offering a restrained yet forward-looking vision of urban development that prioritises well-being and respects the natural environment. © Gaëtan Chevrier © Gaëtan Che... More

In the heart of Westminster, London, a former Victorian-era warehouse for the Army & Navy Cooperative Society Ltd. has been painstakingly restored. The warehouse had fallen into disrepair and obscurity. Led by London-based architectural studio SPPARC, the project breathes new life into the historic building. The refurbished 90,000-square-foot Greycoat Stores is now a flagship mixed-use development. SPPARC has revived the building’s original Victorian charm, particularly through the reintroduction of its previously lost red brick facade. Ed Reeve Ed Reeve   Restoring the original brickwork Designed by the prolific British architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, the warehouse at 10 Greycoat Place was originally built in... More

Designed to nurture discoveries that will shape the biotech industry, the new Vantage Development offers a purposeful building life science campus to serve the region's academic, commercial, and industrial science and technology research institutions. Jason O'Rear The Vantage campus opened in 2024 in the heart of the South San Francisco biotechnology corridor. It features one five-story and one six-story building, together totaling 342,000 square feet of state-of-the-art life science laboratory and office facilities. Both buildings provide flexible floor plans to enable tenants to adapt to their own needs and workspace configurations. Jason O'Rear Jason O'Rear   Design thinking Vantage's architectural language is def... More

Helsinki’s former industrial Katajanokka waterfront is home to Katajanokan Laituri, a solid wood office and hotel building, and the largest mass timber construction in Finland to date. Designed by Helsinki-based architectural studio Anttinen Oiva Architects, the 23,000-square-metre landmark building is certified LEED Platinum. The completion of Katajanokan Laituri contributes to Helsinki’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2030. Kalle Kouhia Located in the vicinity of Helsinki ́s famed Market Square, Katajanokan Laituri is the first new building to be built on the Katajanokka waterfront, an area being reimagined as a mixed-use neighbourhood. It is the head office of Stora Enso, a Finnish forestry company and provid... More

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) Headquarters and Multi-Tenant Commercial Building is a progressive, mass timber project built on a foundation of social, environmental, and financial sustainability. Designed by Canadian architectural studio Moriyama Teshima Architects (MTA), the building was constructed using net-zero strategies. The defining design integrates commercial opportunities with the relocation and revitalisation of the OSSTF’s offices in Toronto. Tom Arban Salina Kassam Moriyama Teshima Architects   A progressive mass timber building The OSSTF is an organisation that represents all educational professionals in the secondary school system in Ontario. The three-storey mass... More

Haus 2+ is a modern and sustainable timber infill that redefines the entrance to Holzmarkt 25, a cooperative-led urban cultural quarter on the banks of the river Spree in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district. Designed by Office ParkScheerbarth, a Berlin-based practice for architecture and urban planning, Haus 2+ is the first all-timber building in Holzmarkt 25. Caption   Holzmarkt 25 Once a timber market, the Holzmarkt area later became a border zone for East Germany, and, after German reunification, a vacant brownfield site. From 2003, it was home to Bar25, the renowned open-air techno club. Following Bar25's closure in 2010, its founders and regulars formed cooperatives to preserve the area from commercial development. Thro... More

In Kristiansand, Norway, the “Lumber 4” commercial and office building is characterised by its distinctive green concave facade elements. Designed by Oslo-based Oslotre, the six-storey mass timber building features five upper office levels and a recessed, circular ground floor, creating a sense of lightness. Oslotre also served as the project’s interior architect and timber structural engineer. Kyrre Sundal Christoffer Imislund   Making extensive use of timber Lumber 4 is part of Lumber Teknopark, an energy and offshore wind centre in the Vågsbygd district of Kristiansand. Lumber, a neighbourhood in Vågsbygd, has a historical connection to the timber industry through logging and plywood produc... More