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We believe it's time for a new kind of architecture: collaborative, investigative, performance-oriented, sustainable, and exciting. It's time for a new kind of practice that is oriented towards solutions rather than objects, creating solutions that work better for clients and ultimately create space for people to shape their own world. In turn this enables the practice to make the world a better place for individuals, ecosystems, and society as a whole.
Sustainable building means building for the long term: culturally valuable, energy-generating structures, using ecological materials, and creating closed material and energy cycles. However a building by itself is never sustainable; it is the system in which it operates that determines its actual performance – a kind of performance that cannot be measured using LEED, BREEAM or other eco-label tools. This performance is closely tied to the economical and societal models in which these new structures operate.
Therefore, architecture is not just about buildings or urban plans, but equally about what is in between buildings: interactions between people, industrial systems, agricultural networks, transportation, the natural environment, culture, and the way all these elements combine into what we call society.
Performative Architecture
We believe that the only sustainable approach is a scientifically-based, integrated approach where all these factors are combined and evaluated together with the client, contractor, and consultants. This approach leads to optimized solutions that are cost- |
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effective, beautiful, and functional while ensuring their responsibile operation in a long term perspective.
Integrated Sustainable Design
Using the knowledge and expertise of industrial ecology practices from our sustainability consulting department, Except integrates proper sustainability practices from the start. While developing zero-impact, energy-neutral or energy-producing buildings, Except includes perspectives on the future needs of society and incorporates them into the designs.
By organizing and aligning the parties in the construction chain using Integrated Project Methods, the needs of the client can be met and even surpassed. Exceptional results can be obtained though co-operation and proper strategic management. Using knowledge from a wide variety of design tools such as BREEAM, LEED, GreenCalc, Life Cycle Assesment, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) a broad approach is ensured.
Re-Use and Urban Redevelopment
Except strives for inspiring design unique to its place, providing solid functionality while at the same time improving living situations on a city, neighborhood, dwelling, and personal level.
Except adheres to the Trias Architectura, which stipulates re-use wherever possible. Therefore, whenever the circumstances allow us, existing buildings and city structures are used as our point of departure. If that’s not an option all care is taken that newly created objects can last as long as possible - technically, economically and culturally. This results in strategies |
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inventing new typologies allowing change of use and program over time, and strategies that allow mixed use whenever the desires of the market, the users, or the client change.
Sustainable Design Consultancy
Except creates designs as well as consulting other design practices on new paradigms of operation. An in-house methodology called Symbiosis in Design keeps track of the complex aspects related to the economics, ecological roles, and the function and use of designs.
Using a specialized communications department Except can bring project presentations to a new level, and use them as a design tool to constantly test projects in simulations of real-world environments.
Symbiotic Relationships
Within the practice a main goal is to create symbiotic relationships with surrounding forces, and making the most of limited resources. Our work continues a dialogue with the history of art and culture, however, instead of developing a signature style, we have chosen to develop signature solutions.
At Except, we love challenges and complexity, and a constant desire to learn more about the world we live in. We are in a continuing dialogue with developments and designs of the past, as well as theories and philosophies of the present and future, and hope to contribute our part in the best tradition possible.
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