HAO PROFILE

HAO / Holm Architecture Office is a New York and Copenhagen based architecture and design office founded in 2010 by Danish architect Jens Holm.

The HAO office is comprised of a group of architects and designers who work within the fields of art, architecture and urbanism. Our work reflects continuous research of contemporary architectural and sociological issues with the aim of creating new and compelling architectural typologies.

We believe that solving any design challenge is best achieved by an open and inclusive design process. Our past collaborations include developers, engineers, environmentalists, artists, writers, museum directors and fashion designers to name a few. Through these collaborations we broaden our understanding of the opportunities presented by any given design challenge which allows us to design projects that integrate seamlessly into its natural context.

OUR WORK

Since 2010 we have been involved in an exciting array of projects of ever increasing scale and programmatic complexity, both locally and globally. HAO is currently working in the US, China and Europe on projects ranging in scale from 50 M2 art installations to 50 Acres master plans.

In China we recently completed the $ 61 million, 20,000 M2 / 220,000 SF Olympic Samaranch Memorial Museum in Tianjin, China. The Samaranch Museum takes full advantage of several green technologies such as geothermal heating and cooling as well as the use of integrated ZIP panels allowing the building to reduce its overall energy consumption by up to 40 percent.    

At the coastline outside of Tianjin we are involved in the design and implementation of the 50-acre Binhai Eco City Master Plan, a benchmark green technology master plan designed to embrace a multitude of green technologies. In addition to Housing and office space, the project includes two state of the art exhibition buildings occupying a combined 40,000 M2. In Qingdao, Northern China, we are working with local offices to refine our competition winning 45-acre master plan for a new residential and commercial district, the plan includes hotels, movie heaters and offices that are designed specifically for new technology business’s.

In Taiwan we are working with local developers in Hualien and Taipei to create content and designs for projects ranging in scale from 500 M2 exhibition designs to 4000 M2 exhibition and warehouse building proposals.

In the US we have recently completed and opened the first phase of the Coleman Oval Park and Skate Park situated in Manhattan under the Manhattan Bridge with the following two phases scheduled to start pending city approvals and finalized our proposal for the Domino Culture Factory, a new vision for the transformation of the existing Domino Sugar factory into a global art hub.        

GREEN IS GOOD

Our design philosophy is rooted in the Scandinavian tradition integrating a balanced mix of green technologies in all our projects. Thinking green is a natural and integral part of our design approach.

Through our projects we have found that choosing the right combination of green technologies and materials is good for both the bottom line as well as for the people that ultimately occupies our projects. Sustainable strategies provides longer building life cycles, reduces cost associated with material and maintenance and makes for better living and work environments.

COMMUNICATION

We understand the need to visualize a project clearly to a diverse series of stakeholders and partners. One of the key aspects of our practice is to assist clients and developers in communicating their visions to a variety of channels. In all our projects we work closely with our clients to prepare visualizations and develop project statements to assist in presenting projects to private investors and public user groups alike,

ABOUT JENS HOLM

Jens received his bachelor and masters degree from the Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark in 2000. Jens has more than fifteen years of experience working on public and private projects in the areas of art, architecture, and Urbanism. His work has been published and recognized globally and along with running the New York office he is and Adjunct Professor at the NYIT / New York School of Technology.

Prior to founding HAO, Jens worked for several years as a lead architect with the internationally renowned office of Rem Koolhaas, OMA / AMO in its Rotterdam and New York offices and as an associate with Rockwell Group Architecture, Planning and Design in New York.

With OMA, Jens developed and designed projects such as the Universal Studios Headquarters in Los Angeles, the Casa de Musica Concert Hall in Portugal (completed in 2005), the MAB mixed use high-rise building (completed in 2013) and the Oslo Vestbanen cultural center. With AMO Jens helped develop the Wired magazine branding project, helping to re-position Wired magazine for a global audience as well as the research project for the Dallas Theater in Dallas, Texas.

With Rockwellgroup, Jens designed the new master plan for Coney Island, a 25 acres hotel and amusement park in Brooklyn, New York and the hotel and residential project for Hyatt Andaz, an award-winning project for a new hotel concept finalized in 2010. Jens also lead the Rockwellgroup team that designed the Hudson Yards Culture Shed in collaboration with Diller Scofidio and Renfro.