Tegnestuen LOKAL is a young design practice, established in 2015 with the explicit aim to create sustainable architecture that respects and develops our Nordic cultural heritage.
The goal is to devise and build architecture that supports identity and diversity rather than homogenization in a world that grows smaller day by day.
When working with any architectural project, the baseline is always the specific context, its potentials and challenges. Potentials are reinforced and relevant qualities are processed to support future use.
Overall, we work with three different subjects that combined create a holistic foundation for the development of the project: Culture, environment and people.
Culture is about understanding and reinterpreting the local architectural and cultural specificity. We respect and conserve the historical layers so future architecture becomes a natural extension of the traditions that Nordic architecture is conceived within and not a technological statement without root in its context. Nurturing the local cultural specificity supports identity, recognizability and attachment, which generates community and unity.
In addition to this, we use the architectural heritage as one of our primary sources of inspiration in regards to sustainable solutions as historical architecture is particularly adapted to its local microclimate. Sun, wind and water have been central design parameters and this local adaptation is more relevant today, than ever before.
People are the primary subject of our work with architecture. Our projects are designed for people and the use of our buildings should support a sustainable lifestyle. This is addressed by designing for a high degree of local community. Community is an asset that has been neglected for years, with focus shifting to private ownership but it is slowly resurfacing because of social, environmental and economic advantages. Community breeds security, is practical and ensures better use of resources.
Designing for people is central to the firm and therefore we value, indoor-climate and health. We develop natural projects with simple, clean materials with good lighting conditions that positively effects people and environment.
Environment is more important than ever and we work focused on creating architecture that has a positive effect on our local and global environment. We always explore the possibility of producing and handling energy, water and heat locally through renewable sources, but we also focus on the impact of our materials on the global environment. We use materials that have a positive environmental footprint like wood and wood fibres and alternatively materials that are recycled or as a minimum can be recycled in the future. We want to support local biodiversity through vegetation and want to further local food-production through gardens or green walls.
Sustainable buildings are, in our opinion, robust and disassemblable. That’s why we work with special flexibility that ensures varied use over time, and design for disassembly that ensures that building components and parts can return to a circular construction cycle after use has ended.
In our opinion all projects are unique and our method isn’t to be understood as a checklist, but rather as a starting point for a constructive process that in the end is compiled in a holistic architectural project.