Welcome to our studio
We are a nature-based design studio working globally with cities, nature, places, and people. For 30 years, we have designed some of the most notable public spaces and masterplans in the world.
Our work spans from award-winning climate adaptation projects in Copenhagen, the green-blue transformation of Denmark’s largest social housing estate in Aarhus, and the design of Norway’s New Government Quarter in Oslo, to urban biodiversity parks in Abu Dhabi, large-scale masterplans in Toronto, and urban plazas in Shanghai.
Everywhere our ambition and mission are the same: To design places for life. All life.
A hub of creativity and science
SLA is an interdisciplinary collective of people working within the trinity of nature, people, and design. We consist of three offices, twelve disciplines, more than 15 nationalities, and 130 people. Together, we are landscape architects, biologists, anthropologists, city planners, lighting designers, architects, planting experts, urban designers, ecologists, PhDs, safety experts, and forest engineers.
In all our projects, we mix creativity and science and collaborate between professions and disciplines to provide holistic and innovative solutions to some of today’s biggest urban problems. We love to put our interdisciplinary design method in use together with ambitious clients, involved stakeholders, and engaged citizens.
Our design approach
We believe in a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to making livable and sustainable places. We combine deep anthropological knowledge and rigorous biological research with award-winning design expertise and high artistic ambitions.
As our client, we bring you along on our journey and invite you to join our mission, challenge our thinking, and expand our horizons. Together we learn, together we grow, and together we create the best possible projects.
The results are poetic and sensuous places that solve today’s biggest urban challenges, provide value for our clients, create genuine life quality for all, and put all things living – people, cities, animals, and plants – first.
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A learning and sharing culture
Sharing knowledge and innovation is central to us. Only in co-creation with clients, stakeholders, and citizens can we design the best possible places for life.
Through our research and development network, sLAB, we initiate and engage in numerous research projects: From internal white papers and cross-office innovation projects to external collaborations with universities, NGOs, businesses, and intergovernmental agencies.
We apply the latest knowledge in all our projects to create state-of-the-art design solutions. And we share our learnings with our clients, collaborators, and the society at large.
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Our history
For 30 years, SLA has designed places, nature, and cities that aim to put all things living – people, plants, and planet – first. Founded in 1994 as Stig L. Andersson Landscape Architects, SLA has evolved into an interdisciplinary nature-based design studio with a global presence and offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Oslo.
Today, we are recognized as one of the world’s leading nature-based design studios whose work addresses the major global challenges of urbanization, climate crisis, and biodiversity extinction while creating livable, meaningful, and sustainable places for life.
The Company
SLA is owned by a partner group consisting of 3 senior partners: founding partner Stig L. Andersson; architect and CEO Mette Skjold; and landscape architect and design principal Rasmus Astrup.
And 10 partners: Design director Louise Fiil Hansen, COO Klavs Holm Madsen, studio manager, SLA Aarhus Karsten Thorlund, R&D director Alexandra Vindfeld Hansen, studio manager, SLA Copenhagen Rasmus Grandelag, head of Chinese market Fred Yuhe Zhang, lead design architect Sune Rieper, CFO Bo Danielsen, project director Salka Kudsk, and lead design architect Nicoline Heather Madsen.
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Clients & collaborators
Over the years, we have had the good fortune to work with a wide range of clients and collaborators. From global market-leading companies to innovative one-person businesses, we love clients and collaborators who are ambitious, courageous, and visionary.
As our client, we bring you along on our journey and invite you to join our mission, challenge our thinking, and expand our horizons. Together we learn, together we grow, and together we create the best possible projects.
Explore our clients and collaborators
We have a global presence
Our work stretches from dense mega-cities to rural countrysides. Based in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Oslo, we bring our distinctly Nordic nature-based and human-driven approach with us out into the world. And we bring our global experience and best-practice design expertise with us back home.
We have ongoing projects in Scandinavia, Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. We are always curious about new places, cities, and societies.
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Honors & awards
Throughout our 30-year history, we have been the happy and grateful recipients of several international and national awards and honors – underscoring our work’s high quality and meaningfulness to its users.
See the list of awards
Fundamentals
Come explore the fundamentals of our office together with us
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Roots
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Atmosphere
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Sakuteiki
– The Book of Garden
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Sound
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Mist
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White
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Essay: The Bark Room
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