ADEPT: The Latest Architecture and News

As cities and communities adapt to new cultural, environmental, and social realities, architecture is taking on an expanded role in shaping spaces of resilience, gathering, and imagination. This edition of Architecture Now highlights six recent projects that span continents and typologies, from the redevelopment of post-industrial landscapes to sacred architecture, cultural pavilions, and civic hubs. Whether through mass timber innovation in Vancouver and Jülich, adaptive reuse in Ostrava, a children's pavilion in London, a spiritual centre in India, or a parametric church in Kyiv, each project demonstrates how design can bridge heritage and innovation while fostering connection, care, and community.

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Copenhagen and Hamburg-based architecture office ADEPT has won first prize in the international competition to transform a former Karstadt warehouse in the historic center of Braunschweig, Germany, into the Haus der Musik. The 18,000-square-meter cultural complex will include a new concert hall, a public music school, and community-oriented spaces. Emphasizing adaptive reuse, the project retains the existing load-bearing structure and architectural rhythm, positioning the intervention as a continuation rather than a replacement.

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In the architectural world, unestablished practices are often overlooked, yet, by challenging the traditional dogmas of the industry, they can have a significant impact on the built environment. The Young European Architecture Festival (YEAH!) explores the work of these upcoming architectural offices, looking at how they share ideas visions and experiences at the European level. The event is divided in two sections: Habitats, exploring ideas of domesticity and the residential typology, and Hybrids, initiatives that are rethinking the traditional systems of city planning.

The following represents a selection of projects by emerging architectural practices selected by YEAH! For the Hybrids category. Many of these initiatives are challenging the ideas of public space, but in doing so, they are also shedding light on the larger social structures at play in these spaces. The selection includes community spaces, schools, transportation hubs, and even projects initiated by the architects themselves, who have noticed deficiencies in their environment and are working to not only correct them but to enhance their presence and empower the local community through them.

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Muz Yer, a permanent public exhibition in Rennes, France, has invited 8 internationally-renowned architects to design birdhouses that highlight the relationship between contemporary architecture and nature. Each birdhouse serves as a response to one or more of the 13 bird species designated by the Birds Protection Committee (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux - LPO), and raises awareness of the architectural heritage of Rennes and its urban ecology. The list of exhibitors includes Julien De Smedt Architects, ADEPT, a/LTA, Duncan Lewis, Marion Normand, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tham & Videgard, and Dominique Perrault Architects & Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost Design.

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Danish design studio ADEPT has won a competition to design one of Germany’s largest fully-wooden construction buildings in the Wandsbek district of Hamburg, Germany. The building, which counts almost 34,000 sqm, is expected to open in 2026 and will house public administration facilities.

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Denise Scott Brown once said: “Architecture can’t force people to connect; it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting places useful and attractive.” Although it cannot control the outcome, architecture holds the potential to set the stage for chance encounters and social interactions, thus nurturing community building and influencing the fabric of our social culture. The following explores how architecture can improve the social capital of its surroundings through design strategies and thoughtful programming, creating the fertile ground for social interaction among different groups of people.

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A team of Danish designers and architects have won the competition to design seven new landmarks for Amager Nature Park near Copenhagen City Centre. ADEPT, Møller & Grønborg, SNC-Lavalin Atkins and BARK Rådgivning submitted a proposal for a series of structures featuring wooden roof forms around outdoor activities and experiences. The new landmarks are designed to create a holistic experience of the urban nature reserve and contribute to the park’s future growth.

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Completed in 2016, MVRDV + ADEPT’s Ku.Be House of Culture in Movement has since become a beloved community amenity that encourages residents to participate in a wide range of activities including running, jumping, climbing, dancing, learning and meditating. Engagement in these activities is encouraged by the complex’s dynamic, playful architecture, where brightly colored wall surfaces meet concrete sliding areas meet suspended climbing nets.

This energetic spirit has been captured in a new photo series by Ossip van Duivenbode, where the center’s elements are being enjoying by people of all ages. Check out the full gallery below, and click here to learn more about the project.

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Praksis Arkitekter has been awarded 500,000 DKK as winners of Nykredit's Architecture Awards, the most prestigious architectural distinction in Scandinavia. Founded in 1987 by the Nykredit Foundation, the awards also honored two practices with 250,000 DKK Prizes: the Motivation Award, won by ADEPT, is “an encouragement to continue and further develop an already obvious talent” seen in young architectural practices, while the Sustainability Award, which was introduced in 2016, was won this year by Leth & Gori.

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Designing a museum is always an exciting architectural challenge. Museums often come with their own unique needs and constraints--from the art museum that needs specialist spaces for preserving works, to the huge collection that requires extensive archive space, and even the respected institution whose existing heritage building presents a challenge for any new extension. In honor of International Museum Day, we’ve selected 23 stand-out museums from our database, with each ArchDaily editor explaining what makes these buildings some of the best examples of museum architecture out there.

Competing against a shortlist of internationally acclaimed architects, the team led by newly established practice Vargo Nielsen Palle (in collaboration with ADEPT and Rolvung & Brøndsted Arkitekter) has been selected as the winners of the NEW AARCH competition, which sought designs for several new buildings for the Aarhus School of Architecture and the development of the surrounding area in Aarhus known as Godsbanearealerne.

The restricted competition consisted of three invited practices – BIG, SANAA and Lacaton & Vassal – and the three winners of the earlier open qualifying competition, Vargo Nielsen Palle, Erik Giudice Architects, and ALL (Atelier Lorentzen Langkilde). Vargo Nielsen Palle’s proposal was chosen as the unanimous winner.

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ADEPT Architects has won the commission to design a new masterplan for the Budapart neighborhood of Budapest, a project that will become the largest singular urban development in the city for nearly 30 years. Based on a distorted grid structure, the design will reference both historic and modern parts of the city, and will encompass 54 hectares of mixed-use space.

Located on the [‘Buda’] bank of the Danube River, the Budapart masterplan aims to create a green and human scaled neighborhood rather than just another new modern development. The fantastic location on the waterfront, the existing characteristic landscape qualities and the close vicinity to the central city are the main attractions that each generate huge potential to make the new neighborhood an epicenter of its own, described the architects in a recent press release.

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ADEPT and Mandaworks have been declared the winners of a design competition for an urban development in the Kolkajen-Ropsten area of Stockholm's Royal Seaport. Dubbed the “Royal Neighbour,” the masterplan is anticipated to provide more than 12,000 new homes, supply 35,000 jobs in the next two decades, and create a new cultural area.

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Videos

Danish practice ADEPT has won an international, invited competition to master plan the 17KM2 site of Laiyan New Town and Binjian District in Hengyang, China. Their winning proposal, “Green Loops City” was lauded for developing an innovative and sustainable way to accommodate rapid urban growth while preserving Hengyang’s cultural heritage and lush surrounding landscape.

Aidi Su from ADEPT stated: “Much of Hengyang’s cultural and natural resources are still very much intact when compared to other Chinese cities facing rapid urban development. This is an incredible opportunity for us to make a difference in Chinese cities.”