The Norr Atelier studio in Copenhagen, with drawings pinned along a long wall

The studio

A small practice with a long view.

Our position

Build less, build better, build for longer.

NORR ATELIER was founded in Copenhagen in 2009 by Jonas Lindqvist, with Elena Marchetti and Amara Okafor joining as partners in 2016 and 2019. The practice grew out of a shared frustration: too much architecture is designed for the photograph and not for the decade after.

We work slowly at the beginning and quickly when it matters. We prefer repair to replacement, local stone to imported marble, and rooms that can change their mind. Our measure of a good building is simple — that it should still feel right when the furniture has been moved for the tenth time.

How we work The partners

People in the studio

Partner-led cities

Built works

Awards & shortlists

Not a manifesto — more a set of habits that have survived seventeen years of practice, budgets and weather.

Begin with the climate

Sun, wind, rain and shade are the first materials. Before we draw a wall we know where the winter light will land and where the summer air will move.

Use what is already there

The greenest building is usually the one that already exists. We measure the carbon of keeping against the carbon of clearing, and we let the answer lead.

Let materials be themselves

Lime, timber, stone, clay and brass — detailed so they age honestly. Nothing is asked to pretend to be something it is not.

Design for the ordinary day

Not the launch party, but the Tuesday morning: boots by the door, a kettle, a chair turned toward the window. That is where architecture earns its keep.

Jonas, Elena and Amara lead every project together. Each brings a different lens — structure, material, city — and no scheme leaves the studio without passing through all three.

Jonas Lindqvist

Founding partner · Architecture

Elena Marchetti

Partner · Interiors & materials

Amara Okafor

Partner · Urbanism & research

Maja SørensenAssociate · Architecture
Luca FerriAssociate · Interiors
Priya RamanArchitect · Copenhagen
Tobias EkArchitect · Stockholm
Sofia DuarteResearcher · Lisbon
Niels BangStudio & communications

A partner and associate reviewing a physical model in the studio

The workshop

Draw it, then build it at 1:20.

Every project passes through the model shop. Card, basswood, plaster and brass — physical models keep us honest about scale in a way screens rarely do.

Models are kept for the life of the building, and often longer.

See a project from sketch to site