News

Steensen Varming thanks you for being a part of our story.

As our 90^th anniversary year comes to a close, we reflect on the passing year and those that preceded it, shaping who we are today. We measure our accomplishments in quality rather than quantity, and are grateful to our brilliant team at Steensen Varming for not only upholding but surpassing the high standards we set for ourselves. We also extend thanks to our clients, collaborators and friends who have supported us over the years and greatly contributed to reaching this 90-year milestone.

As a global company, we hosted celebrations throughout the year in different locations, each celebration tailored to embrace the specific charms, history and connection of each location to our company. The first, held in Copenhagen, where our story began 90 years ago, was the most intimate, where the highlight was the many stories shared among some of the company’s oldest employees. Sydney’s celebration followed, a black tie event at the Sydney Opera House, the very project that brought us overseas to Australia. Closing our celebrations was the London event, held in the heart of Soho in a jazz club speakeasy, paying homage to our founder’s lifelong passion of music and early dreams of joining a jazz band.

To commemorate our 90^th anniversary year, we’ve created a historical timeline, highlighting important projects and milestones over the years, showcasing parts of our journey from our inception to the present day. Despite occasional hardships, we take pride in the innovative spirit that surrounds us and our commitment to responsible action, always choosing what is right over what is easy.

“Looking Forward” are words that represent our 90^th-anniversary year, connecting us to both our past and our future – a philosophy that has been maintained throughout our history. Now, we extend those words towards the future, looking forward to new challenges, opportunities and aspirations. As we close the chapter on our 90^th year, we again express gratitude to all who have been part of our journey, and we look forward to continuing our story with you.

We end this year with a few words from our CEO, Dan Mackenzie, while wishing you all Happy Holidays and a good New year.

“It has indeed been a privilege to be part of Steensen Varming during the year of our 90^th Anniversary. An anniversary notable not only for the longevity but also the consistency in remaining independent, maintaining our purpose and values of creating positive environments, focusing on quality, sustainability, and wider social benefit. All this whilst making sure we have a rewarding and fun approach to life. Every project is valued, but it’s the stories and relationships we’ve built along the way that are truly cherished. We enjoyed and shared stories at parties held in Copenhagen, London, and Sydney, all with different themes that honour elements of our history, that were shared by so many colleagues, clients, and collaborators past present and emerging. As we always have done, we are ‘Looking Forward’ to continuing to contribute, co-operate, support, delight, instigate change for the better and remain true to ourselves.”

 

Last week we attended the IES NSW Lighting Design Awards night. It was good to re-connect and meet in person after a 2-year break, and also to come home with two awards for our projects.

We would like to congratulate all award winners as well as the event organizers, and thank our clients and collaborators. We are humbled by the trust that has been and continues to be put in us and are looking forward to continuing to contribute to positive environments and outcomes.

 

Woodriff Lane – IES NSW Award of Commendation

The project is a catalyst and part of a larger Council strategy to bring people back into the city centre in the evening, enhance walkability, activation of the nighttime economy and support pedestrian connections. The solution achieves the project objectives through a simple yet imaginative design, creating a memorable, inviting space for the community and bringing joy to the nighttime experience.

Made from coloured sail cloth with a triangulated motif, the shades speak to the namesake of the installation; Daniel Woodriff, a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century who was granted 1,000 acres in Penrith. A subtle nod to the history of the site adds integrity to the placemaking strategy.

The lamp shade is locally designed and fabricated, minimising transport and supporting sustainability initiatives. Furthermore, the creative and simple solution developed utilises the existing infrastructure, minimising cost as well as making use of resources still within their design life.

Collaborator: KI STUDIO
Client: Penrith City Council

The Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand: https://www.iesanz.org/

 

 

 

 

Dangrove – IES NSW Award of Excellence

The lighting solution for Dangrove looks beyond the typical architectural and museum luminaire range, adapting a stage lighting design approach to light the display walls from the stepped mesh ceiling with theatrical DMX controlled RGBAL performance luminaires. Track and track lighting are mounted in a channel running across the gallery at each level of the ceiling arrangement to facilitate spotlighting of individual artworks below.

The innovative strategy of adapting stage performance lighting to act as display wallwashing in a museum environment has the additional advantage of also being used to support special events, performances and festivals, and by artists and performers in the creation of site-specific artworks with a full range of colour changing dynamic dimming capabilities.

Architect: Tzannes
Photographer: Ben Guthrie, The Guthrie Project

The Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand: https://www.iesanz.org/

 

The New Zealand Treasury has today announced $344 million in funding for the Scott Base Redevelopment in Antarctica in the 2021 Budget. As the building services engineers on the project, Steensen Varming has been working closely with Antarctica New Zealand and the design team since 2017.

The new redevelopment will be home to world-leading scientists in one of the most isolated places on Earth, maintaining New Zealand’s continuous presence on the continent since 1957. With a target of 97% renewable energy use for the Scott Base Redevelopment, New Zealand’s environmental leadership within the Antarctic Treaty is central to the design.

Other consultants working on the project include Jasmax and Hugh Broughton Architects (Architecture), WSP (Civil and Structural Engineer), The Building Intelligence Group (Design Manager), Rawlinsons (Quantity Surveyor), Acor Consultants (Fire, Hydraulics and Fuel), and Holmes Fire (Fire Engineering). Leighs Construction will construct the buildings off-site in New Zealand and they will be shipped in large format modules to Antarctica to be installed.

Image Credit: Jasmax and Hugh Broughton Architects

The Henning Larsen winning design for this urban park-centred development, which provides additional parkland and recreational space for the city of Sydney, has been selected by GPT Group and AMP Capital as the winning concept for their $650 million, 73,000m2 office and retail redevelopment of the Sydney’s Cockle Bay Wharf.

Situated at the western edge of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD), occupying a significant waterfront location overlooking Darling Harbour, the new tall building will be an elegant addition to the Sydney skyline.

The Henning Larsen design realises the original city vision for the site, connecting the Harbour with its workers, residents and visitors. The development will be a new vibrant mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood destination for Sydney providing a choice of experiences.

Steensen Varming’s Copenhagen and Sydney studios worked together to provide building services solutions to assist Henning Larsen in the creating the winning competition design for this new iconic landmark building for Sydney. The last time Steensen Varming successfully collaborated with a Danish Architect on an Australian Design Competition was for the Sydney Opera House. The high-quality integrated engineered solutions proposed for this development, facilitates energy efficiency, flexibility and sustainability which will contribute to the wellbeing of worker, visitor and the general public in a positive manner.

Architecture: Henning Larsen
Landscape Architect: McGregor Coxall
Retail: Geoffreything Studio
Structural + Civil Engineering: Enstruct
Façade: Henning Larsen and Thornton Tomasetti
Sustainability: Henning Larsen and Steensen Varming
Mechanical Services: Steensen Varming
Lighting: Steensen Varming
Electrical: Steensen Varming
Fire and Hydraulics: Warren Smith and Partners
Fire Engineering: RED
Vertical Transportation: Steensen Varming
Image Credit: Henning Larsen

The debut Ghana Pavilion, located in the Artiglierie of the historic Arsenale, Venice showcases a multi-generational lineup of six eminent Ghanian artists: El Anatsui, Ibrahim Mahama, Felicia Abban, John Akomfrah, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Selasi Awusi Sosu. Titled ’Ghana Freedom,’ after the 1957 independence song by ET Mensah, the theme explores the legacies and trajectories of the nation’s independence from british colonial rule.

The pavilion is designed by UK-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, curated by renowned Ghanian Cultural Historian Nana Oforiatta Ayim, and the late Okwui Enwezor served as its strategic advisor.

The pavilion, with its elliptical shape, is inspired by the interconnected earthen architectural shapes throughout West Africa and clad with laterite soil sourced from Ghana. As villages have their own elliptical spaced volumes, so do each of the artists.

Steensen Varming provided the lighting design working with Adjaye’s vision. The lighting for the pavilion establishes an ambience that ensures the artworks are centre stage within their culturally expressive pavilion. Lighting was therefore designed to match the intent and approach for the individual pieces, working in collaboration with the artists to ensure they were accurately represented.

Ibrahim Mahama and El Anatsuis are exhibited in the outer spaces to welcome visitors into the pavilion. Both artists have designed sculptural works that follow the line of the main curved walls. Ibrahims work is made up of many small items integrated within a larger structure, whilst El’s work is a tapestry ofmetal printing plates, bottle tops and copper wires fashioned together to shimmer like drapped fabric.

In both spaces, the pieces are to be read as one complete work that extends across the space. Ibrahim’s has been lit evenly to connect the different structural elements and objects together, whilst El’s lighting subtley accentuates the work to emhasise movement and play of shadows created by the piece itself.

In some spaces such as those occupied by the AV works of John Akomfrah and Selasie A Sous, Steensen Varming adopt their ’embrace the darkness’ approach, allowing the projections to command the space, with the exception of Selasie’s bottle sculpture accentuated gently to balance visually with the adjoining projections.

Lynette Y Boakyeand Felicia Abban are placed in the two centre spaces, Lynette’s being large paintings with deep tones and layered textures, and Felicia’s work delicate black and white portraits. The two spaces are lit in opposing manners to complement the works, where Lynette’s is wall-washed allowing the darker tones and textures to be read together with the surrounding space, Felicia’s lighting is focused and cropped to accentuate the detail of the photographs whilst allowing the surrounding to drop back into darkness.

Short deadlines, a broad international team and working with a lighting hire company posed the challenges in this unique and ambitious project. Working collaboratively during the commissioning period ensured a successful outcome and definitely worth traveling to Venice for this year.

Steensen Varming are currently working with Adjaye Associates on various projects including the Ghana Cathedral in Accra.

From Copenhagen, London, Sydney, Hong Kong and New York, we wish all of our friends, clients and collaborators a happy holiday season!

Please note that our Studios will be closed on the following days during the holiday season:

• Our Copenhagen Studio will be closed midday on Friday 21 December 2018 and reopen on Wednesday 2 January 2019
• Our London Studio will be closed midday on Friday 21 December 2018 and reopen on Wednesday 2 January 2019

• Our Sydney Studio will be closed midday on Friday 21 December 2018 and reopen on Monday 7 January 2019

• Our Canberra Studio will be closed midday on Friday 21 December 2018 and reopen on Monday 7 January 2019

• Our Hong Kong Studio will be closed midday on Monday 24 December 2018 through Thursday 27 December 2018 and closed on Tuesday 1 January 2019