Big thinkers and creative gurus.

Snøhetta, Richard Stevens, Domenic Alvaro, Kelwin Wong, Tim Phillips

Scandinavian architectural and landscape workshop, Snøhetta, recently expanded their

practice to Australia – not in Sydney, nor in Melbourne, but Adelaide! It seems to be a hallmark of the brand to set up shop in traditionally obscure or overlooked locations around the world. Snøhetta’s managing director for Australasia and architect, Kåre Krokene, explains why.

It’s been almost 30 years since Snøhetta’s Norwegian founding partners established their first office in Oslo. The choice of location was certainly logical, but following the architectural practice’s inaugural commission to reconceive the Alexandria Library in Egypt, its ‘small town’ base was suddenly called into question. Unsurprisingly, there were those who thought one of the bigger European cities would have been a more appropriate place for such a globally-focused firm to be operating, especially considering the significance of its growing portfolio.

Those same commentators were probably just as bemused when the practice established a studio in Innsbruck and most recently (and, quite possibly, most unexpectedly) Adelaide. Although Snøhetta’s second office is in New York and it now also has studios in San Francisco and Stockholm, it’s become a hallmark of the brand to set up shop in traditionally overlooked locations. Their choice to work out of ‘under utilised’ cities in the regions in which they operate has been necessitated by major commissions in each locale, while the studios’ resulting growth has been an organic process, sustained by active, thriving markets that want what Snøhetta does.

For the practice’s managing director of Australasia and architect Kåre Krokene, the impetus to establish a studio in the South Australian capital gained traction off Snøhetta’s first Australian project, the UniSA Great Hall (in partnership with JamFactory and Adelaide-based JPE Design Studio). As he explains, “We’ve had some really good momentum come out of that process and we saw this as an interesting opportunity to formally set up a studio.”

Of course, Adelaide is the ideal homebase for Snøhetta’s Australasian operations. It’s central to both the east and west coasts of Australia and is in close proximity to New Zealand. But the establishment of the Adelaide studio isn’t simply a narrative on geographical convenience or professional congeniality. Rather, it’s about being part of a newly identified creative hub in order to realise outcomes not able to be achieved elsewhere. Snøhetta’s business agenda not only benefits the practice itself but also considers industry, creating win-win situations across the board. People, process and projects (in that particular order) are at the core of the practice’s values and its DNA is formed by generosity of spirit, manifested in the promotion of knowledge sharing, genuine collaboration and an understanding of social and cultural context. “Gone are the days when the starchitect comes in, takes over and imposes their particular brand – it just doesn’t work anymore,” says Krokene. “It’s easy to do something incredible, but to do something credible you need local understanding and that’s why we’re going to be a plug-in, not a threat.” Krokene is working with a number of other Australian architectural practices, with the majority of projects currently based in Melbourne, including the Arts Centre Melbourne’s masterplan. By also situating the Adelaide studio in JamFactory’s CBD premises, the opportunities for ‘cross-pollination’ between the institution’s designers and makers and Krokene’s threemember team, are great.

Snøhetta could have just as easily set up a studio in Sydney or Melbourne, although there’s no reason to believe either location would have proven more advantageous. The new Adelaide studio exemplifies how borderless the architecture and design industries have become and its establishment encourages architects and designers to embrace the old cliché and think outside the square. Being open to opportunities regarded as obscure or unpopular stands to disintegrate industry bias and misconception, as well as breed innovation and growth. “Technology allows for it, cultures allow for it and people are open to it working,” observes Krokene. “And it’s a benefit getting somebody from somewhere else to come in and work with local designers, just as there are practices in Adelaide currently looking at international projects. It’s the way of the future and it shouldn’t be feared.”

“Gone are the days when the starchitect comes in, takes over and imposes their particular brand – it just doesn’t work anymore. It’s easy to do something incredible, but to do something credible

you need local understanding. That’s why we’re going to be a plug-in, not a threat."