We have been named on Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023

We have been recognized, “For a series of new buildings, including a Danish school and the World of Volvo experience in Sweden, the firm has been employing ancient building materials such as straw, seagrass, and wood—but with a modern twist. Processing these abundant natural resources into super-strong structural beams, insulation, and ventilation systems, Henning Larsen is reducing the impact of its buildings while pushing the industry forward.” - Fast Company writes.

Fast Company is a media publication dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. This year’s list highlights the businesses at the forefront of their respective industries, paving the way for the innovations of tomorrow. We are honored to be featured alongside companies that are setting the standard with some of the greatest innovation accomplishments of the modern day, across 54 sectors and regions.

“Being on Fast Company’s list of innovative companies is a fantastic acknowledgment. To me it feels like a great testament to the last 15 years; we have come a long way and have continuously sought to develop innovative visions and solutions within the field of sustainable design. Pushing the boundaries of sustainability is no easy feat, so we are proud to be recognized as a business that is making an impact. Our initiatives will not stop anywhere near here. In fact, our drive and passion to explore green solutions has only been elevated,” says Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Director of Sustainability and Innovation, Henning Larsen.

Pushing the boundaries of sustainability is no easy feat, so we are proud to be recognized as a business that is making an impact.

Striving for a Lasting Impact

We recently embarked on our most innovative and ambitious project yet – a school extension that is redefining the standards of sustainable construction. Feldballe School in the small rural town of Rønde, Denmark explores ways of designing a building that captures more carbon than it emits. This new way of thinking demanded a complete reevaluation of materials. Locally sourced, natural, and bio-based wood, seagrass, and straw proved to be viable alternatives to conventional materials. These carbon sequestering elements are completely free of toxic chemicals, fire-safe, and once assembled, offer efficient insulation as well as an exceptional indoor climate.

Because 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to the building sector, sustainable and innovative projects such as Feldballe have never been more essential. Feldballe is not the first project of Henning Larsen’s that has pushed the limits of innovative materials. Projects such as the urban development of Fælledby in Copenhagen, the forward-thinking World of Volvo experience center in Gothenburg, and the Quayside development of Toronto have all been monumental.

Feldballe school is slightly different to these projects as it has acted as an exciting testing ground to think of sustainable materials in a new way. The entire structure of the school is designed for easy disassembly and reuse, offering flexibility, ease of repair, and making it possible to reinstall or recycle its parts in the future. Feldballe School has a footprint of 339 kg of CO2e per m2, which includes emissions from embodied carbon in materials and technical installations and also building operations. The life cycle impacts are calculated over a theoretical 50 year building lifetime and include production phases, replacements and end-of-life impacts. As Feldballe will foster a learning environment for generations to come, there is no measurement to fully encapsulate the impact this project will have on the surrounding community. The school has the potential to pave the way for even more ambitious projects within the architecture and construction industry in years to come.

“What a strange and thrilling year it has been to honor this year’s Most Innovative Companies. This year’s list compiles some of the most cutting-edge groundbreakers who are changing our world every single day, from legacy organizations to upstarts like MrBeast and institutions such as NASA. Everyone on this list does something completely, uniquely different, yet, they all have one thing in common: innovation,” said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan.

Fast Company will host its third annual Most Innovative Companies Summit on April 19 and 20. The virtual summit celebrates the Most Innovative Companies in business, and provides an inside look at cutting-edge business trends and what it takes to innovate in 2023. Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies issue (March/April 2023) is available online here.