KHR ARKITEKTER - architeria.eu

KHR ARKITEKTER
Kanonbadsvej 4
1437 KBH K
Tel. +45 4121 7000
www.khr.dk




KHR ARKITEKTER

> Current Ownership
In 1988 Krohn & Hartvig Rasmussen became a joint stock company and was renamed KHRAS arkitekter.
In 2003 the company changed its name to KHR arkitekter AS (KHR).

At the end of 1996, KHR Holding AS (KHR H) was formed as a parent company with 100% ownership
of KHR arkitekter AS.

The current owners of KHR H are:
Anja Rolvung, Henrik Richter Danielsen, Jakob Brøndsted, Jan Søndergaard and Mikkel Beedholm,
all members of Denmark's Academic Architectural Association (MAA).

> Management
Jakob Brøndsted was elected chairman of the board in May 2006, and Henrik Richter Danielsen has been
managing director since May 2006.

> Company History
KHR Arkitekter was founded in 1946 by Gunnar Krohn and E. Hartvig Rasmussen and is now an architectural
practice which stands for unique architecture focussing on innovative ideas, specialist competences and
creative development work.

At the beginning of the 1960s KHR was amongst the pioneers who appreciated the need for re-invigoration
and innovation in Danish architecture: a fresh approach which resulted in a number of industrial and
commercial buildings whose regional genesis was inspired by international movements. One such building
was the headquarters of Atlas in west Copenhagen.

In the subsequent period KHR was behind a large number of major public and private builds in Denmark
and abroad: a series of developments spanning the range from hospitals, schools and shopping centres
to residential builds. The crowning glory came in 1971 with Odense University, whose structural idiom
and fine detailing set new standards for contemporary architecture.

In the late 70s and early 80s KHR developed its competencies within cultural construction projects such
as sports complexes, swimming pools and town halls. Several of these developments were based on
”design and build” or ”turnkey” contracts, the preferred procedure at the time for awarding contracts,
which gave the practice better understanding of the buildability of projects in general and deeper insight
into and appreciation of the finer points of individual projects.

Moving into the 90s, KHR won the competition to build the Danish pavilion at Expo ’92 in Seville, with all the
international attention and recognition that entailed. The project distinguished itself by synthesising its
artistic idiomatic style with its innovative use of new materials. At the same time, the pavilion made
a feature of sustainability by minimising the use of resources in terms of both materials and energy.

At home in Denmark, the 90s saw KHR playing a leading role in the development of Copenhagen Airport.
This was a commission which enhanced the competencies of the practice in the field of infrastructural
projects and led to design commissions for both Arlanda Airport in Stockholm and Billund Airport in
West Denmark, and for a range of infrastructural projects both in Denmark and abroad.

A common denominator of the 90s projects was a sharper focus on contextual architecture, a conceptual
paradigm whereby the architectural space acts as the mainspring from which inspiration for a design
emerges through the filter of social, cultural, tectonic and technological factors Projects evolved on this
basis include the Pihl & Søns headquarters, the first administrative building with natural ventilation;
B&O's headquarters in Struer, a pioneering building with its hybrid ventilation system; and the Ístaks
headquarters in Iceland, a unique build which amalgamated these models in a combined summer and
winter design. In addition, KHR was involved in several projects in Sweden, including the renovation
of the Lorensborg multi-storey flats, and in Greenland the launching of the ambitious Institute of Natural
Resources in Nuuk .

> Services provided
The advent of the new millennium saw the culmination of the practice’s many years of developing its
competencies within infrastructural civil engineering in the execution of Copenhagen’s Metro and the
inauguration of Arlanda Airport. Focus was at the same time directed again towards the educational
sector with projects to provide new buildings for Copenhagen University on Amager (KUA) , and a few
years later, the Biocenter in Universitetsparken, the University campus on Nørrebro.

Recent years have seen further reinforcement of and challenges for the studio’s competencies in the
schools and cultural ¬sectors, alongside major new commissions within the health sector. KHR entered
into new partnerships in the educational sector with PPP projects (Public Private Partnerships) for
Vildbjerg School near Herning and Ørsted School on Langeland. In Bergen we are designing a major
expansion of Haukeland University Hospital in the form of a new Children’s Hospital, which will set new
standards for the future of facilities for the treatment of children. Meanwhile, again in Norway,
the "Helleren" project on Nygårdstangen in Bergen, and in Denmark, Forum Horsens and Hillerød Town Hall
stand as testament to KHR’s courage and determination constantly to approach architecture from new
angles. And the use of new materials in noteworthy builds such as the Hellig Kors Kirke (Church of the
Holy Cross) and Fiberline bear witness to KHR’s capacity, even after more than 60 years in the sector,
to see the potential for and the necessity of making architecture fit and ready for going boldly into the future.

> General Reference
A large number of KHR's projects are a result of winning domestic and international architectural
competitions for both design and “design and build” or turnkey contracts in conjunction with general
contractors.

In recent years the projects have been approximately 50% domestic and 50% international. The majority
of the work is for government and semi-public corporations in co-operation with Denmark's most prominent
engineering consultancy and construction firms.

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