Architecture for a Sustainable Life

2021 was White’s 70th year in business. Looking back, it’s clear that people always have been in focus for our architecture, and we have driven developments in the field of environment. 2021 we have taken sustainable architecture to completely new heights, literally. With the art of architecture, we continue to enable a sustainable life – today and for a long time to come.

White had a strong 2021. The market recovered, despite a second year of pandemic, and we were able to recruit many new employees. In Europe, the New European Bauhaus contributes to a tailwind for sustainable architecture, as a key to enabling the green transition.

With our high focus on sustainability, we continue to take place in new markets and in 2021, our projects began to make a serious impression internationally. Our studios in Oslo and London are growing and to strengthen our presence and development in Germany, we established a new studio in Stuttgart.

During the year, we received a great deal of attention for several of our major wooden construction projects. Sara Kulturhus, Magasin X and Nodi all set a whole new level for wooden architecture and sustainable construction. We also run several large care building projects, such as the New Hospital in Malmö and the Children’s Hospital in Cambridge. Our investment in digitization makes it possible to realize sustainable built environments at a faster pace through design and data.

Sustainable Architecture for Real

With architecture, we contribute to environments where people can thrive and grow, but the built environment always affects the climate, the earth’s resources and the natural environment. To contribute to society’s challenges, Agenda 2030 and climate goals, we focus our efforts in five areas:

We create architecture that is carbon-neutral, circular, nature-promoting, health-promoting and that contributes to equal, safe and inclusive environments.

It is through our assignments that we can contribute to sustainable development – for real – and some of our main projects from 2021 clearly show that sustainability and strong architecture go hand in hand:

White’s goal is for all projects to be climate neutral by 2030. Building in wood is an effective way of reducing climate impact. Sara Culture Centre in Skellefteå is not only one of the world’s tallest wooden buildings but also climate positive over 50 years. Sweden’s largest office building in wood, Magasin X, has an energy need that is 80% lower than the Swedish norm and the office building Nodi in Gothenburg was awarded for its sustainable and strong architecture.

In order to decrease the carbon footprint and manage the earth’s resources, a shift towards a more circular architecture is also required. In kv Kromet we have shown that it is possible to take advantage of all materials during demolition and for Corem we created a new office with almost exclusively reused and recycled materials.

We know that greenery in cities contributes to many vital functions. With nature-promoting architecture, we can mitigate the consequences of a wetter and warmer climate, strengthen biodiversity and not least contribute to healthy and attractive environments. At Årstafältet we have created a recreation area around the stormwater ponds and at Moorfields Hospital there is a roof terrace that strengthens the city’s biological diversity.