Ten Ways Cities Came Back in 2021

In March, Uber Technologies Inc. opened its new San Francisco headquarters, two buildings skinned in glass and connected by a transparent sky bridge. But the 180 glass panes that cover much of the facade are more than just for aesthetics. Designed by the technologically innovative SHoP Architects, they open and shut automatically throughout the day, allowing for natural air flow and temperature regulation. While plans were first unveiled back in 2015, the design addresses two of today’s most urgent crises: the pandemic and climate change.

Atlassian HQ Wins Best Future Workplace

The announcement was made today that the Atlassian HQ in Sydney by SHoP with BVN has been recognized as the best unbuilt office project over a deep field of major international firms.

Brooklyn’s Supertall Reaches Full Height

As the supertall skyscraper nears completion, Gregg Pasquarelli, a Founding Principal of SHoP Architects, says: “The SHoP team is thrilled to be a part of a project that is so impactful to one of the world’s most acclaimed skylines. We wanted it to remain authentic, with that baroque, Brooklyn charm, but also look crisp and modern to capture the borough’s constant state of growth and influence.”

Collins Arch Joins Two Towers with a Multistory Skybridge

Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects together with landscape architects Oculus won this competition to design Collins Arch in 2014, which was initiated by Cbus Property, calling for a landmark development for Collins Street—a major road in Melbourne with a mix of heritage buildings and skyscrapers. “The sky bridge connecting the two buildings is not simply decorative,” said Bill Sharples, founding principal of SHoP Architects.

The Ultimate Office Amenity in 2021? Fresh Air

“In a way we made what is typically invisible, the environmental flows of air and temperature changes, into a physical manifestation, where you read the change through the facade,” Sharples says. “To us that’s a new kind of architecture. The building’s always going to change. It’s never going to look the same.”

Brooklyn’s First Supertall Officially Reaches Full Height

The 93-story, 1,066-foot-tall residential building, standing at 9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, was designed by SHoP Architects. Newly christened “The Brooklyn Tower,” it has been under construction since 2018 and cost $750 million total to develop.

A Visit to (Nearly) the Top of the Supertall Brooklyn Tower

Up, up, up went the elevator, past the 7th-floor recreation level, which includes three outdoor pools on the roof of the old bank, past the resident-only cocktail lounge on the 85th floor, and past apartment after apartment—rental units on the lower levels and the rest condos—until finally the machine arrived at what seemed an impossible height but was in fact fully eight floors below the top, which was still closed for construction. That was alright. It was just high enough.

SHoP Founders Take Next Leap in Modular Construction

SHoP Architects founders Bill and Chris Sharples have unveiled the first apartment unit built by their next generation modular construction company, Assembly OSM. The one-bedroom unit has been built using digital design technology combined with advanced manufacturing techniques developed in collaboration with auto and aerospace engineers with decades of leadership experience at Boeing, SpaceX and Tesla.

Construction Continues at FIT’s New Academic Building

Excavation and foundation work are progressing at 220 West 28th Street, site of Fashion Institute of Technology‘s New Academic Building in the Garment District of Chelsea. Designed by SHoP Architects, the ten-story, 110,000-square-foot structure will rise from a slender rectangular plot between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

Modular Construction Firm Founded by SHoP Principals Unveils First Apartment

The premise involves approaching building more like assembling a car, airplane or even a spaceship, with greater transparency around materials, labor, quality, timelines and cost than in traditional real estate development. To deliver on that, the company has tapped engineering talent from the likes of Tesla, SpaceX and Boeing.