Meet Stephan Albrecht

“The potential of cross-laminated timber is much wider than just reducing the ecological footprint of buildings,” says studiosma Director and Founder, Stephan Markus Albrecht.

“Yes, it stores CO2 and has reduced primary energy consumption, but it also comes with great design attributes as a warm material with excellent haptic qualities, and offers huge prefabrication and automation potential.  It completely changes the way we can design, fabricate and assemble modular spatial structures.”

studiosma’s approach is one of curiosity, Stephan says, with a focus on human-centred and holistic design.  “We develop future-proofed concepts and novel building systems with an innovation lens,” he says.  Berlin-based Stephan is balancing a busy portfolio of studio, academic and advisory work, all of which falls largely under three key principles.  “I am working to embrace transformation, with digital as the new normal.  I prioritise projects which make cities more liveable, competitive and resilient.  And I am embracing social, economic and environmental sustainability.  These three areas enrich each other as they share the same global direction, even though they highlight different aspects within that wider discussion.”

Digital tools and disruptive technologies provide a strong foundation for Stephan’s work, in both his professional and his academic practice.  “We use digital tools every day.  We have to admit that, in some parts of our work, the computer is much stronger than we are as humans...  There are many areas in which computing is now a preferable option: optimising a complex double-curved geometry, carrying out a sunlight façade analysis, or generating dozens of different design versions based on certain design criteria.”

As an external lecturer at universities in both Germany and Austria, Stephan says he is exploring digital workflows with his students.  “I oversee a parametric design studio where our architectural students investigate the structural optimisation of building constructions with the help of algorithms.  I also hold an annual digital fabrication workshop where we teach structural engineering students to design spatial free-form structures and program fully reversible plug-in systems...  We teach our students from day one to stop digitalising analogue workflows, and instead start from scratch in order to think and act digital.” 

There’s a strong imperative for positive impact underpinning every aspect of Stephan’s busy portfolio.  “I strongly believe collaboration is getting more and more important as we are running into a global crisis.  Connecting people and ideas, sharing knowledge and empowering people will be key in the future.  We all have to do better, together!”

One of the critical ways for architects and designers to approach this, he says, is by giving more thought to the material life cycles of our built environment.  “We destroy too many buildings simply because they no longer fit historical business models.  We have to start thinking in circles from the very first moment.  Every new building must be future-proofed with materials that are recyclable, and components that can be reused or dismantled to form new structures in the future. 

“Instead of asking about the lifespan of a building, we should ask how many lifetimes a building can have.  We have to come up with resilient spatial designs in every respect: sustainable materials, optimised energy consumption and flexible structures to accommodate changing spaces or planning requirements.  We could develop flexible spatial systems that can be reprogrammed, cut back or expanded as required over time.  We need real, holistic-thought, future-proofed concepts for upcoming building structures.”

From an early age, Stephan says he was exposed to various aspects of the architecture and construction industries.  “Most of my family worked in construction or in medicine.  My grandparents had a construction company and, for a few years, we lived on the top floor of the building yard.  It was like a big playground with a huge garden and all these big ‘toys’ around us...  I don't think I decided to become an architect on a particular day; it was more like the sum of my preferences.”

After completing his studies in Stuttgart and Zurich, Stephan embraced opportunities to take on international design projects, an experience which has helped to form his holistic approach to the work.  “I firmly believe that we must work together globally to bring about positive change for a sustainable, circular future.  You can learn a lot by studying local history and building traditions, and talking to local experts. 

“When I was working for Lava Architects, I oversaw a high-rise project called ‘Kacst Headquarters’ in Riyadh that was developed as a site-specific, energy-efficient, flexible, 20-storey concrete office tower, adapted to climate and culture.  One of the goals was to increase the lifespan of the building by weaving in the highest programmatic flexibility possible.  We analysed typical courtyard houses and suggested a deep floor plan with four stacked, courtyard-like building modules in order to increase communication on the respective floors, but also between the different levels.  By relocating the cores to the west and east façades, we were able to block out direct sunlight and were given a deep floor plan for the highly flexible space program requested by the client.”

Most recently, Stephan has been leaning into the potential of timber technology in complex constructions, notably through a collaborative competition design with Gilles Retsin for a timber concert hall in Nuremberg.  “We proposed a radical concept for a cross-laminated timber prefab system, even though we knew this would be hard to win.  We used the project as a case study to showcase what's technically possible.  The concept was based on environmental awareness, locally sourced material, but most importantly on new efficiencies and the potential for automation which we see in timber housing construction.  All of the elements were digitally designed, programmed and optimised to be prefabricated and pre-assembled in the factory.  The entire building consists of repeating timber modules and the resulting space can be understood as an engineered timber monolith where walls, ceilings and columns follow the same organisational logic throughout the structure.”  

While they ultimately did not win the competition, Stephan says that they are proud of their entry which has since informed many subsequent projects.  “When we submitted that design three years ago, the perception of a radial timber building was very different than it is today.  Automation is just starting to disrupt the building sector...  The speed of cross-laminated timber implementation in the construction industry is simply amazing.  A few years ago, when you thought of a wooden building, you likely thought of a log cabin, right?  Today, modern timber construction allows us to build high-rise buildings.  And wood is the only building material that stores CO2, which will make its success story even bigger in the future.”

Since launching studiosma in 2018, Stephan has given himself the space to focus on projects which best support his curiosity and his passion for connecting with people and technologies.  “I don't care too much about project scale, size or category.  I will continue to work on novel building systems and focus on digital planning and fabrication.  I will push these topics both in studio projects and in teaching.  I am planning new collaborations for 2022 but, most of all, I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun working with great people.”

To learn more about Stephan’s work, connect with him on LinkedIn, or visit his (work-in-progress) website www.stephanmarkusalbrecht.com.