Studio

01 / 05

A studio for careful buildings

Founded in Zurich in 2009 and in Lisbon since 2016, Hena is thirty-four architects, interior designers and urbanists working around one long table.

Studio

01 / 05

A studio for careful buildings

Founded in Zurich in 2009 and in Lisbon since 2016, Hena is thirty-four architects, interior designers and urbanists working around one long table.

Studio

01 / 05

A studio for careful buildings

Founded in Zurich in 2009 and in Lisbon since 2016, Hena is thirty-four architects, interior designers and urbanists working around one long table.

Drafting table in the studio
Drafting table in the studio

Our story

Two cities, one table

Hena began in 2009 as two architects in a former printworks in Zurich’s Kreis 5, drawing competition entries at night and renovating apartments by day. The name comes from surveying: the fixed reference point from which every other measurement is taken.

In 2016 we opened a second studio in Lisbon. Today the two teams work as one practice — sharing projects, models and a weekly crit — so every building benefits from two climates, two building cultures and a healthy amount of debate.

We remain deliberately small. Partners draw on every project, clients talk directly to the people designing their buildings, and we only take on work we believe we can do exceptionally well.

  • Context — Craft — Time — Care —

What we hold on to

04 Principles

01

Context first

Every brief starts on site. We read the street, the light and the people before we draw a single line.

01

Context first

Every brief starts on site. We read the street, the light and the people before we draw a single line.

02

Craft over spectacle

We would rather perfect one handrail than add a gesture. Good details are how buildings earn affection.

02

Craft over spectacle

We would rather perfect one handrail than add a gesture. Good details are how buildings earn affection.

03

Built for time

Robust materials, generous rooms and simple structures let a building change use without being torn down.

03

Built for time

Robust materials, generous rooms and simple structures let a building change use without being torn down.

04

Care for people

Architecture is a service. We design for the people who will clean, repair and live in our buildings.

04

Care for people

Architecture is a service. We design for the people who will clean, repair and live in our buildings.

The people

Partners and directors across Zurich and Lisbon.

Mara Lindqvist

Founding Partner

Tomás Ferreira

Founding Partner

Inês Duarte

Associate Director

Jonas Keller

Head of Technical Design

Have a site in mind? Let’s walk it together.

Hena Architects

Tell us about your place, your budget and your timeline. We reply to every enquiry within three working days.

Start a project

Start a project

Have a site in mind? Let’s walk it together.

Hena Architects

Tell us about your place, your budget and your timeline. We reply to every enquiry within three working days.

Start a project

Start a project

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