Sweco Transform Award finalists

Mads Oien Nielsen & Simon Pyll Truesen
Det Kongelige Akademi
Potentialet i Danmarks største nedrivningssag – Undersøgelser af højt kvalificeret træ i nye funktioner

The project ‘Potentialet i Danmarks største nedrivningssag – Undersøgelser af højt kvalificeret træ i nye funktioner’ presents an innovative model for tackling the climate crisis and biodiversity challenges through material reuse. The project analyses circularity in the construction industry and develops a method to use recycled wood from abandoned mink farms for load-bearing structures. Through a thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis, the project shows how this wood can create architecturally valuable and sustainable column and beam systems. The project combines ancient building practices with modern production methods, contributing to a more sustainable building practice that reduces the need for virgin timber.

Victor Carlsen & Karlie Tsang
Det Kongelige Akademi
Energy Landscapes – Beyond the Operational

The project ‘Energy Landscapes – Beyond the Operational’ presents an innovative approach to the planning and design of renewable energy parks in Denmark, with a special focus on the government’s designation of 32 large onshore energy parks. Based on a planned energy park in Hillerød Municipality, the project challenges the one-sided prioritisation of technical optimisation in large and monotonous facilities and instead proposes an alternative planning that takes rural life more into account. Through a new planning strategy, they propose a comprehensive redistribution of energy units that simultaneously integrates with other landscape interests such as wetland restoration, afforestation, and agriculture. This approach explores new spatial configurations and aesthetic perspectives that favour the coexistence of renewable energy production and the rural landscape.

Laura Polkmane
Det Kongelige Akademi
Gone with the Cloud

The project ‘Gone with the Cloud’ investigates the spatial and environmental consequences of hyperscale data centres in Denmark, with a particular focus on Apple’s expansion in Viborg. Through an integrated approach, data space is co-located with agricultural research and practices, promoting sustainability and resource efficiency. By utilising excess waste heat and adapting the data centre to natural systems, the project aims to challenge the current data infrastructure and promote a new typology that enables flexible use as technology evolves. This initiative seeks to demystify the function of the data centre and creates a platform for public dialogue on data ethics and resource consumption.

Anna-Lena Mueller
Arkitektskolen Aarhus
Lignite Intimicies: Gardening Industrial Remnant

The project explores the intertwining of lignite mining and allotments in East Germany as cultural practices that shape local landscapes and cities. Through an in-depth analysis of the Peres Mine, where mining continues until 2035, the project addresses the socio-ecological challenges posed by former mines, such as community displacement and landscape changes. By proposing a regeneration strategy over 80 years, centred around the design of water flows in the mining area, local gardening practices and ad hoc constructions are integrated into interventions that promote social engagement. The project seeks to create connections between machines and landscape, as well as between people and the environment, adapting to future climate conditions.

Christina Jensen & Sara Sander
Syddansk Universitet
ReVoxLam – Re-VoxLam Truss. Topology optimisation and reclaimed voxel lamination of horizontal wood structures

The Re-VoxLam project addresses the significant problem of wood waste in the construction industry, with 55,000 tonnes of wood discarded annually in Denmark. Through advanced computational design and construction techniques, the project transforms otherwise useless wood into valuable building components by sorting, classifying and strategically allocating pieces of wood. Their voxel-based methodology enables upcycling of shorter material cuts, resulting in nearly waste-free structures and increased carbon storage. The project combines digital design with sustainability principles and inspires a more responsible approach to recycled materials in construction.

Azul Florencia Isodoro, Bastian Mosegård og Nicolai Hou Thomsen
Aalborg Universitet
Sundparken. Sourcing, re-use and transformation

Azul, Bastian, and Nicolai’s interdisciplinary and highly relevant project addresses the Danish Parallel Society Agreement and wisely questions whether it is possible to solve the social challenges in the so-called ghetto areas in other ways than by demolishing good buildings and “building our way out” of the problems. Specifically, the project investigates Sundparken in Horsens and presents three different proposals for how social housing construction can.

Christian Buske Nielsen
Arkitektskolen Aarhus
Non-extractive Material Sourcing Through Comtemporary Agricultural Practice

Christian’s original and well-researched project investigates, through a series of material studies, how crops from agriculture can be turned into building materials. The project addresses the highly relevant premise that the future of sustainable construction depends on the industry exploring and introducing new materials – and specifically looks at the role that biogenic materials from agriculture can play in construction.

Mathilde Slot, Leonie Hülya Irmak og Tuva Sveindal
Aalborg Universitet
Substation Utsira – regaining awareness of the subordinate

Mathilde, Leonie, and Tuva’s interdisciplinary and innovative project address the relevant “not in my backyard” phenomenon and explores the relationship between technology, human, and nature in the context of establishing a land-based substation in a small island society in Norway. The project explores the architectural potential of the substation in relation to the local community’s acceptance of the station. At the same time, the project is an innovative study in the use of local and sustainable materials.

Kathryn Larsen
KEA and University of Technology Delft
[Seaweed] Farm to Table

Kathryn’s fascinating and well-executed project addresses, in part, how “beach waste” in the form of seaweed, seagrass, and shells can be cultivated and transformed into biogenic materials and used as a resource in the built environment – and partly how we can build in wetter environments with these materials in the future. The project is based on thorough material studies and demonstrates a high level of professional curiosity and the sustainable potential of biogenic materials.

Shwan Soran Ali
The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture”
Reconstructing the postwar urban fabric in Mosul

Shwan’s impressive project is based on a proposal for a reconstruction plan for war-torn Mosul in Iraq. It explores how the city’s ruins can play a part in creating a dignified existence for its residents while the city is being rebuilt. At the same time, the project outlines a framework for how we can create living conditions – not only in other war-torn cities but also in cities and urban areas affected by forest fires and other climate changes. A challenge that, unfortunately, is highly relevant in many parts of the world today.

Jacob Matthiesen Jørgensen
Aarhus School of Architecture
The Coastal Landscape of Change – Adaptive Landscape Scenarios for Thorsminde and Nissum Fjord

Jacob has worked on a sustainable transformation of the Jutland west coast with his ambitious graduation project. The project addresses the challenges faced by Thorsminde and Nissum Fjord due to climate change and future sea level rise. Jacob presents a series of adaptive landscape scenarios, critiques the current coastal protection strategy, and proposes new climate solutions that create synergy between future forecasts, economic conditions, and current climate initiatives.

Christian Simon Reese Reinholdt Andersen
Aarhus School of Architecture
A Non-Linear Land of Human Beings (Inuit Nunaat), The Inter-Connection of Trash and Treasure

Christian’s project is an exemplary graduation project that provides a solution to a local issue viewed in a global context of sustainable consumption and climate impact. In his visionary and extremely well-developed project, Christian explores the idea of rethinking Greenland’s food supply by growing food in the harsh Greenlandic nature, thus reducing the climate impact of food transport and bringing food production closer to the Greenlandic consumer. The idea unfolds from the principle that one organism’s waste is another’s nourishment.

Morten Stistrup and Leo Gamborg Heinzl
Aarhus University
LCA Tool for Mass Modelling – Research and Framework

Morten and Leo have used their thesis to conceive and develop an innovative digital tool that addresses one of today’s most important agendas – CO2 emissions from building materials. In this context, they have created an LCA estimation tool designed to support multidisciplinary dialogue on material selection early in the design stages. The development of the tool has been done in collaboration with practicing architects and engineers, presenting us with a tool that supports, complements, and strengthens the process that architects and engineers already practice.

Karoline Østergaard, Lis Dall, and Katrine Mitzi
Aalborg University
Frederiksberg Hospital. Socially and Environmentally Sustainable Transformation of Existing Buildings

Karoline, Lis, and Katrine have based their thoroughly developed graduation project on the plans for the transformation of Frederiksberg Hospital into a new urban area. The main focus of the three authors has been to investigate how to transform buildings over 100 years old into modern, contemporary functions while preserving architectural qualities and achieving energy consumption and indoor climate that meet current standards. To this end, they have developed a relevant “renovation matrix” that addresses an important element of the green agenda – namely sustainable renovation.

Sune Lund Bunke and Frederik Lykkeberg
The Royal Academy
P2X Rødbyhavn – At the End of the Road

Sune and Frederik provide a compelling proposal for a new sustainable energy facility with their graduation project. The project works across a vast range from large to small scale and addresses, among other things, the ongoing project for the Fehmarn connection east of Rødby Port. Here, they propose how this gigantic infrastructure project can receive an architectural boost that accommodates the place’s landscape and urban context. The project addresses both major societal issues like the green transition while also providing a concrete proposal for how we can integrate our infrastructure, particularly energy infrastructure, as architectural structures in our landscapes.