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Steensen Varming has a history of innovation and industry firsts that spans over 90 years –

One of Steensen Varming’s founders, Jørgen Varming, once stated that he considered two people the main contributors to the company’s early success but one of them was his acquaintance, Niels Bohr, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Nobel Prize winner.

Shortly after our foundation 90 years ago, Steensen Varming started working with Niels Bohr to further develop the Niels Bohr Institute, as his fast-developing science required constant equipment and facility updates to his institute. Working with and for Niels Bohr had a significant impact on the company and resulted in precious know-how and many subsequent scientific research facilities commissions. Among these are the Nuclear Research Establishment Risø, European Space Research Centre in Holland, Niels Bohr Institute Annex and many more.

At Steensen Varming’s 50^th Anniversary in 1983, Jørgen Varming described the early years of the company in the thirties as the greatest source of inspiration to our profession, being fuelled by frequent association and even the rare combat with clients and architects. At the time Jørgen Varming believed working together with Professor Niels Bohr designing the Niels Bohr Institute had the most significant impact on the development of the company, throughout the 50 years that had passed to the time of his speech. Now, 90 years after Steensen and Varming first began their work on the Niels Bohr Institute, Jørgen’s words back in 1983 keep true with this commission being a pillar which we’ve continued and will continue to build upon in years to come.

Vast changes have taken place since our foundation in 1933, but to appreciate how far we’ve come we want to look back at the history and philosophy which we were built upon and have since developed.

90 Years ago, in 1933, Steensen Varming was looking forward to working on our very first commission – the University of Copenhagen’s Library.

The engineering landspace in Denmark at the time was scarce, especially when it came to engineers specializing in Building Services. Steensen Varming‘s founding fathers, Jørgen Varming and Niels Steensen were but number 31 and 32 on the members list of the ‘Association of Consulting Engineers’ in Denmark at the time which consisted of Structural, Chemical and Civil Engineers, with very few if any other Building Services members.

Initially engineers were never involved in the design of the building outer skin, its fenestration, or shading; and the tertiary education of architects did not extend to such matters as heating, ventilating, or plumbing. Steensen & Varming being experienced tradesmen with further technical education were able to offer a large scope of work in these early days which included civil, structural, and building services engineering and design in close cooperation with architects.

With the increasing need for experts within the trade and the duo‘s strong network of architects, and their ability to integrate services as part of the architecture, our first project was quickly followed by other, no less high profile commissions.

Steensen Varming is privileged to have worked with ARM Architecture, providing Mechanical and Electrical services, on the upgrade of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, 50 years after its initial opening in 1973!

After more than two years in the making, restoring functionality to the hall, making the space accessible, and improving the acoustic performance, visitors can now experience the Concert Hall in all its glory!

We are humbled by our relationship with the Sydney Opera House and are proud to still be working closely together 90 years after its inception.

To find out more about this project and how we partnered with ARM Architecture please click here: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Renewal by ARM Architecture | ArchitectureAU

Steensen Varming is excited to be working on this iconic historic project at Nautical Museum in Castletown with Fraser Randall alongside the prestigious project teams of Manx National Heritage, DANNATT, JOHNSON ARCHITECTS LLP and Real Studios, to deliver the transformation of the museum in Isle of Man, U.K. 

The project combines conservation and adaptation of existing historic buildings together with innovative and accessible approaches to exhibition design and visitor interaction. As part of the transformation, an architecturally distinct display boathouse will also be built to house the historic ship, The Peggy. Fitted with drop-keels; an experimental innovation in 1789, Peggy is the only surviving example of a small wooden boats which is not a naval vessel, once found in their thousands around the western British Isles.  

We have always been ‘Looking Forward’ at Steensen Varming, pushing our projects and ourselves to do, and be, better. The integrity of what we do has always been more important than what we say.

Our focus on doing what is right, over what is easy, has led us to the cusp of a century’s worth of industry-defining work and collaboration. All of our projects benefit from our commitments and values in different ways, whether decarbonization, regenerative design, First Nations influence, eco over egocentric, post pandemic wellbeing, quality over quantity, purpose over profit, resilience and re-use/ future-fit over waste and vanity.

We have further aligned our expertise and purpose, to test ourselves to arguably the toughest and most transparent criteria in the ESG world, by being certified as a B Corporation, as we use our business as a force for good.

At a community level, we focus on contributing to those around us as what our studios specifically care about; this year in our London Studio we are humbled by and have chosen to support Little Village and HomeLess Made.

We wish to thank artist Guan Chow, for the artwork accompanying this greeting. Guan Chow, an immigrant to the UK who, in battling with personal tragedies and mental health, became homeless but managed to find himself with the help of art. “The Tree of Life” artwork represents color returning to life after experiencing poverty and homelessness and is meant to inspire the same in others.

The Steensen Varming teams in Copenhagen, London, Sydney, Canberra, Hong Kong and New York wish all our friends, clients and collaborators a happy holiday season and we look forward to continuing good work in the New Year.

This year’s IAMFA (International Association of Museum Facility Administrators) global conference took place in San Francisco and gave us a forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the post-pandemic world and how to tackle the issues of climate crisis with the volatile economics of our times.

Steensen Varming’s Chris Arkins and Dr Emrah Baki Ulas shared with the delegates their insights to sustainability and lighting design. Chris’s talk provided an inspiring perspective on how ancient wisdom and a regenerative approach to sustainability can guide us to have better environmental stewardship while fulfilling project objectives. Through a range of example projects, Emrah explored the importance of thoughtful lighting design that embraces the abilities of technologies and systems of today, in meaningful ways to enrich experiences.

Today is the final day of the 32nd annual conference, where Steensen Varming is a committed sponsor of IAMFA’s efforts in setting and attaining standards of excellence and quality in the sustainable design, construction, operation and maintenance of world-class cultural facilities: https://www.iamfa.org