In a 2020 marked by Covid-19, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects reported a strong result. The annual accounts show a pre-tax profit of just over DKK 37 million and a turnover of slightly more than DKK 127 million.

The result is the best in the company’s 100-year history, and with a profit margin of 29 percent and a solvency ratio of 43 percent, the management considers the financial performance and the year’s result to be satisfactory.

"As the 2020 result shows, we have a healthy business built on a solid foundation. We are proud that, over the years, we have succeeded in maintaining a high level of activity while delivering exciting, high-quality architecture and tight project management," says Gyrithe Saltorp, CEO of Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects.

The year was characterised by a good inflow of new assignments, high activity on ongoing projects, and development initiatives in areas such as sustainability and digitalisation. The areas generating the highest turnover were housing, healthcare, office, infrastructure, and life science, though there was also activity in the hotel, education, and retail sectors. With net revenue more than 10 percent higher than in 2019, the company maintains a long-standing positive growth trajectory.

"When we submitted the previous annual report, Covid-19 had just reached Denmark. Thanks to the extraordinary dedication and flexibility of our employees over the past year, we—together with clients and partners—managed to maintain a high level of activity in a market that, in many ways, has fared well during the corona crisis," says Gyrithe Saltorp.

The financial result follows the announcement that the partners and management at Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects have expanded the ownership circle with an external partner—an international private equity fund backed by some of Germany’s largest family-owned companies. Their role is to help realise significant growth potential based on the company’s strong experience in complex projects, sustainability, and digitalisation.

Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects is behind some of Denmark’s largest ongoing construction projects, including the tip of Nordø, Kronløbsøen, Copenhagen Airport, and the New North Zealand Hospital. In December, the firm—together with H+ Architects and Hoffmann—won a new four-year framework agreement with the Danish Building and Property Agency, and in October began a collaboration with Japanese firm Kengo Kuma Architects on the design of the Vandkulturhuset (Water Culture House) in Copenhagen.

The company continues to prioritise the development of more sustainable buildings and is, among other things, the architect behind Denmark’s largest timber construction framework agreement for Boligselskabet Sjælland. It is also building the country’s tallest six-storey timber building.