Jakob Strømann-Andersen
On data-driven design, sustainable business models, and digital craftsmanship
Jakob Strømann-Andersen is a Partner and the Director of Innovation and Sustainability at Henning Larsen. He joined the firm in 2008 during his Industrial PhD – a joint research program between Henning Larsen and the Technical University of Denmark – after studying engineering and environmental design at DTU and UC Berkeley. During his tenure, Jakob has overseen Henning Larsen’s growth into a global leader in sustainability, digital design, and research practices. He was hired and inspired by the “Master of Light” himself, the firm’s founder, Henning Larsen.
Henning Larsen (1925-2013) was a Danish architect who founded his architecture practice in 1959, and was an active designer at the firm for over 50 years. He built the studio on a foundation of curiosity with a fascination for the intersection of engineering and architecture. Over the decades, the practice has grown from its Copenhagen roots to now employ over 700 people across 20 offices. The international studio has developed a range of expertise through projects of various scales: from a 2,700 sf schoolhouse made of biomaterials to urban master plans for sustainable cities. The thread connecting these projects is their design process.
No matter the scale, the process is the same. Jakob credits Henning Larsen’s growth and versatility to their common approach – which always begins with data. Before any pencils hit the trace paper, the team collects as much relevant data as possible. This includes site visits, environmental conditions, climate information, and social data. From this information, they formulate a strategic design concept. These written goals, i.e. “lowering the dropout rate for students at the university,” are combined with the data and brought to the drafting table – when architectural concepts start to form.
Data is an essential element of the HL design process before and after a project. The firm is leaning heavily into post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) to prove, quantitatively, the impact of their environmental and social efforts. Jakob notes that architects haven’t been good about revisiting what they design. Once the tape is cut, we too often move on instead of learning from past successes and failures. By collecting as much operational and behavioral data as possible, Henning Larsen is creating a foundation of information to better inform future efforts.
However, the data needs proper interpretation in order to make any real change. Jakob used the example of a new school they had designed to the highest energy standards. One year after opening, the operations manager noted that the new building was using more energy than the older schools in the district. They asked Henning Larsen if the systems were operating correctly and/or if a design mistake had been made. An inspection found no faulty equipment or incorrect designs – instead they discovered that this school wasn’t sleeping.
This is one of Jakob’s key ideas for the future of building: sustainable cities should never sleep. Once the school day ended the yoga classes started, and community meetings stretched into the evening. Weekends were also filled with activities, while all the other schools sat vacant. A glance at the energy numbers might suggest inefficiency, but a deeper understanding of the data proved the contrary. Strategies like this maximize the benefits of the embodied and operational energy of a building. Confronting the impact of construction, Jakob’s next key point asserts: the most sustainable building is the one that doesn’t get built.
To save time, money, and resources we must extend the longevity of the items we already have. Refurbishment and reuse are key. Combining this idea with the first, you’ll see that buildings that sleep less are more likely to be kept alive. The programmatic diversity and flexibility of buildings increases their economic viability – meaning they are more likely to be restored, reused, and refurbished by future designers.
We don’t have a sustainable business model
While the architect has the ability to advocate for these practices of reuse, movement in this direction requires a mindset shift from everyone, including clients, because it upends the core business model of the profession: we are paid to create square footage. Jakob and his team are looking to create alternative business models which reward impact instead of area. They are testing energy saving agreements and entrance-fee percentages on past projects to find new solutions for operating their business with less dependence on new construction. Legal barriers complicate the effort to reform such a callused modus operandi, but Jakob believes it is necessary for building actually sustainable practices.
Sustainability is as much a function of the business model as are the materials we build with — it touches all aspects of a project. Understanding this, a few years ago Henning Larsen exploded their sustainability department. The firm found that when “sustainability” existed in its own compartment, it was too far removed from the impactful decisions. Only by breaking up and spreading out the sustainability experts were they able to have constructive conversations and integrations throughout the entire design process. Jakob described this move as extremely positive to the goals of the firm and individual projects. The closure also allowed for the expansion of Henning Larsen’s R&D department, which Jakob manages.
Research and development at HL operates through their Industrial PhD program – the kind that Jakob went through. Henning Larsen co-hosts candidates from a collection of co-sponsoring institutions who are working on a variety of projects. From integrated acoustic simulations to parametric design, Jakob and his researchers are pushing the boundaries of digital tools in architecture and bringing that knowledge to their new projects.
Jakob sees the untapped potential of these digital tools. Today, we typically only use digital models to help build buildings, but in the near future they will have much more value. Models will be the location for metaverse conferences, they will continue running simulations through the lifespan of the building, and they’ll even help coordinate the end of a building’s life. Designing for disassembly digitally will help us sell our building’s components and track available materials across the built landscape over time. To realize the promise of our digital tools, we must develop a level of “digital craftsmanship.”
What at first sounded oxymoronic, made perfect sense as Jakob continued to describe all the possible benefits of carefully crafted digital models. A deep understanding of these tools can revolutionize how we build, use, and deconstruct our buildings. For this reason, he feels that coding will become an essential skill for architects. If you’re anything like me, whose brain seems fundamentally incompatible with every coding language invented, Jakob pointed to new tools that may change architects’ relationship to code.
Robots don’t care who does the drawings
Artificial intelligence, specifically Large Language Models, are revolutionizing how we code and possibly dropping the barrier to energy so low that even I could hop over. AI could help decipher, diagram, and dictate code for architects to incorporate into their design processes. This can unlock not only parametric design opportunities, but also allow for communication with the digital fabrication machines themselves. We can remove the middle men and directly control the robots crafting our materials. Robots, after all, don’t care who does the drawings. The potential for increasing the quality and diversity of design through digital craftsmanship is driving Jakob to continue pushing its boundaries.
Jakob and his team at Henning Larsen are working to not only revolutionize the tools we design with, but how we design. By building on a foundation of data, they are continuously learning from their past designs while looking ahead to the business models of the next decade. To Jakob, sustainability isn’t about pointing fingers, it is a challenge we can rise to meet. Across scales, Jakob is pulling a more sustainable future to the present through innovative research and data-informed design.