Nominated for the White Government Export Award

For the second year in a row, White has been nominated for the Government’s Export Award for Cultural and Creative Industries. The international presence of the architect’s office has grown in recent years, with White opening a studio in Stuttgart last year. With many prestigious projects internationally, Wight advances knowledge in sustainability, transformation and timber architecture, with the goal of making all projects robust in form and climate positive by 2030.

The Government’s Export Prize for Cultural and Creative Industries is awarded to recognize the contribution of Swedish companies to Swedish exports and to promote Sweden as an innovative and creative country. White was nominated for the second year in a row, the first time the Office of Architecture was nominated for the award last year.

– We are incredibly happy to have been nominated for the Govt.’s Export Award. It is a good sign that our work, which aims to contribute to sustainable development through architecture from an environmental, social and economic perspective, is being noticed in this environment, says Carl Bakstrand, vice president and responsible for the internationalization of White.

In 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, White opened a studio in Stuttgart, Germany. The establishment means that the architectural office today has employees in Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, Germany, Canada and East Africa. With many projects underway in Scandinavian architecture and several large white projects such as the New Karolinska Hospital and Sara Kulturhus, the studio in Stuttgart has grown from two to twelve employees in a year and a half. Some of the projects the studio is working on include the transformation of the Heinzelmann industrial area and the Haus Heinsburg housing project.

– Our international presence has been strengthened in recent years. With that, it became even more clear to us that there is an international demand and interest in our solid knowledge of sustainability, transformation and timber architecture. As we, as an architectural firm, are part of projects at an early stage, our international presence can act as a leverage for other Swedish exports. When building wooden houses in large international projects, for example, it can contribute to Swedish timber exports, says Carl Backstrand.

From a studio in London, White is implementing a number of major projects in the UK, including the Wellandre Cancer Center in Wales. In Helsinki, White recently won Magazinesstranden’s International Architecture Competition with his project Charette as part of the Consortium Gran. With the winning proposal Confederate Spruce Creating new sustainable buildings, new parks and pedestrianized central streets of Helsinki as climate-safe parts of the city.

In addition to international expansion, several white projects have recently been recognized in prestigious international competitions. Last year, among others, True Blue Beach Park in Bergen won gold in the “Future Projects” category at the WAN Awards, while the Nodi office building outside Gothenburg was awarded Best Office Building during the Dezeen Awards. Sarah Kulturhus in Skellefteå has been recognized in several competitions, including being awarded gold at the International Award for Wooden Architecture.

The Government’s Export Award for Cultural Industries was established in 2018. A total of five companies have been nominated for the award this year. The award will be presented on 6 December by the Minister for Aid and Foreign Trade, Johann Forsel.

For more information:
Louise Lundberg, Head of Public Relations, White Architects
+46 73 722 51 69
[email protected]

White Arkitekter is one of Scandinavia’s leading architectural offices. We work with sustainable architecture, design and urban development in an international context for present and future generations. Our mission is to transform sustainable living with the power of architecture. Our vision is that by 2030 all our projects will be strong in shape and climate neutral. We are an employee-owned architecture firm with approximately 800 employees in Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, Germany, Canada and East Africa.