“Scaling up Material Innovation”

At Henning Larsen, we approach bio-based construction as both a design opportunity and a climate necessity—one that asks us to rethink not just materials, but the entire system behind how we build. From carbon-storing timber schools in Copenhagen to modular cooling structures on Governors Island, our work explores how natural materials can scale beautifully and responsibly. We don’t do this alone: we collaborate with researchers, startups, and city partners to turn bold ideas into built realities. This keynote will share how we’re bridging architecture, ecology, and innovation to accelerate the future of low-carbon cities.

AIA-CEU

Innovation in architecture as an industry is often tough and needs systems to scale it with intention and impact. This presentation explores how groundbreaking ideas transition from pilot to practice by examining the essential enablers of scale: financing models, methodological frameworks, and partnership strategies. Through real-world case studies and cross-sector insights, we’ll unpack: Financing: public-private mechanisms that de-risk experimentation and support long-term adoption. Framing: how methodologies and partnerships can guide scale without losing the integrity of the innovation. Forging pathways: the role of trust-based partnerships and new models in scaling solutions equitably and across contexts. This session will offer a practical lens on innovation in this industry—what accelerates it, what hinders it, and what makes it stick.

Prerequisite Knowledge:
None Required

Learning Objective 1:
Understand the funding models that enable innovations to move from pilot to large-scale implementation.

Learning Objective 2:
Explore methodological frameworks—such as systems thinking, adaptive scaling, and iterative prototyping—that support the structured and resilient growth of innovation.

Learning Objective 3:
Identify the key characteristics of high-impact partnerships that foster trust, shared ownership, and long-term scalability across sectors and regions.

Learning Objective 4:
Analyze real-world case studies to extract transferable insights on how innovations have been successfully scaled, with attention to enabling conditions, pitfalls, and contextual adaptation.

Kritika Kharbanda leads the sustainability initiatives for Henning Larsen’s global team, on projects across multiple geographies, climates, scales, and typologies, including higher education facilities and schools, cultural and civic buildings, labs, offices, mixed-use projects, and masterplans. Her passion, training, and experience lie at the intersection of architecture, sustainability and technology, arming her to develop and inform sustainability goals and concepts as part of strategic visioning, programming, and the earliest phases of design. Her skillset ranges from energy and carbon benchmarking for life cycle, indoor environmental quality mapping, and urban analysis like microclimate and thermal comfort, alongwith other computational workflows for evidence-based design. She also supports projects targeting LEED, Living Building Challenge, WELL and other certifications.