In the second week of Member Appreciation Month we’re featuring SHoP Architects, a global thought leader in design. SHoP's longstanding commitment to process innovation—advancing design and delivery technologies, developing visualization tools that streamline team and client collaboration, and leveraging all-digital model-based delivery—redefine the traditional role of the architect for the 21st century. Founded in the spirit of making, SHoP takes a frank and inclusive approach to generating inspiring interventions in the built environment, which is evident in their numerous projects completed or underway that encompass more than 9.3 million square meters across five continents. 

This extensive portfolio of work includes award-winning projects such as 111 West 57th Street in New York City (CTBUH 2022 Best Tall Building, Residential), the mixed-use Collins Arch development in Melbourne (CTBUH 2022 Best Tall Building, Oceania), and the innovative hybrid mass timber high-rise, Atlassian Central (CTBUH 2023 Future Project), currently under construction in Sydney. 

 _{(Left) 111 West 57th Street, New York City © David Sundberg, Esto. (Right) Atlassian Central, Sydney © SHoP Architects}

Pioneers in the utilization and development of digital modeling software, SHoP’s studio established itself early on as a cutting-edge practice with projects in New York such as the Camera Obscura in Greenport—one of the world’s first buildings manufactured entirely from digitally modeled and direct-fabricated parts—and the influential Porter House apartments in Manhattan, where direct fabrication was used in the assembly of the city's first rain screen façade. 

The research and development in the studio's earliest projects have now become proven processes. The rapid and exact model-based construction of the Barclays Center arena in New York, now celebrating its first decade as the Brooklyn's front porch, living room, and home of the Brooklyn Nets. The success of that project unlocked SHoP's ability to scale-up its methods for new typologies. In the United States projects include The Brooklyn Tower, the American Copper Buildings and the East River Waterfront promenade in New York City;  the Uber Headquarters in San Francisco; the National Veterans Resource Center at Syracuse University; Mercedes-Benz Places in Miami; and Midtown Center and The Wharf in Washington, DC. Work is underway as well, on the YouTube Headquarters in San Bruno, California—intended to be a celebration of "iconic experience."

Barclays Center, New York. Image credit Bruce Damonte.

Barclays Center, New York. Image credit Bruce Damonte.

Midtown Center, Washington D.C. Image credit Ty Cole.

Midtown Center, Washington D.C. Image credit Ty Cole.

National Veterans Resource Center at Syracuse University. Image credit James Ewing.

National Veterans Resource Center at Syracuse University. Image credit James Ewing.

Detail of the Brooklyn Tower, New York. Image credit Michael Young.

Detail of the Brooklyn Tower, New York. Image credit Michael Young.

Detail of the Uber Headquarters, San Bruno. Image credit Jason O'Rear.

Detail of the Uber Headquarters, San Bruno. Image credit Jason O'Rear.

The U.S. Consulate General, Milan. Image credit SHoP Architects

The U.S. Consulate General, Milan. Image credit SHoP Architects

Internationally, SHoP is currently working on, among many other projects, the Codrico Tower in Rotterdam, the campus for Fulbright University in Ho Chi Minh City, a recently announced series of interventions at the Volvo innovation district outside of Gothenberg, Sweden—and a series of diplomatic facilities for the U.S. Department of State in Milan, Bangkok, Tegucigalpa, and Kinshasa. A quarter century of fostering a culture of innovation and continued commitment to the next-generation practice of architecture has resulted in continued success and forward-thinking design. 

Making is still at the core of SHoP’s work, with in-house fabrication capabilities at a satellite facility near its main office and a successful offsite construction start-up, Assembly OSM, that has recently spun out on its own. The focus on research and development continue, with explorations in technology and visualization extending now to research in advanced building and facilities management platforms, and collaborations to develop tech that can help ensure an ethical supply chain across the AEC industry. The diverse, trendsetting and enduring work of the firm has been widely celebrated with a variety of honors, among them the Chicago Athenaeum American Prize for Architecture, the AIA New York State Firm Award, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Architecture Firm and Smithsonian Institute’s National Design Award for Architecture. 

Select Designated Experts:

Gregg Pasquarelli, Founding Principal, New York City

Dana Getman, Principal, New York City

Learn more about SHoP Architects here.