PWD is an international collaborative design office focused on architecture and urban studies. From small to large-scale projects our goal is to study and deliver a unique and intelligent result capable of expanding the possibilities and efficiencies in architecture. The practice gathers talented individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and a wide range of experience – as a result PWD operates easily within any frame or cultural reference. We are committed to our core value of design excellence and are dedicated to research, development and sustainability.
At PWD, we believe that great design is diverse design. It’s a product of its environment. It’s design by people who intrinsically understand the end user. It’s also design that constantly challenges the status quo and looks to innovation and cutting edge thinking to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
As an international practice, we understand the importance of globalization and hence have begun establishing offices all around the world. Meanwhile, in order to improve the culture adoption ability globally, PWD has built strong coordination and operating relationships with diverse architecture practices in different countries, such as England, Chile, Poland, Bahrain, Thailand, U.S.A and China. PWD has currently registered satellite offices in London, England and Santiago, Chile.
PWD was founded in 2013 and is now developing projects all over Asia, with one 40.000m2 mixed-use project in Yunnan Province already under construction phase, a 4000m2 museum and an International Island Urban master plan.
Marcel Holmberg Biography
Marcel Holmberg (born October 27, 1981, Santiago, Chile) is a founding partner of PWD Architecture, an international architecture and urban design office based in Beijing, with offices in Xi’An, London and Santiago.
Marcel is partner-in-charge of PWD Architecture’s Beijing office. Current projects include; a 40,000m2 project in Dali City, Yunnan and working on the concept design of other projects in Dali, as well as Beijing and a museum in Changsha.
He is an ICA registered architect in Chile and an RIBA chartered architect in the United Kingdom.
In 2010, he joined Büro Ole Scheeren where notably he took a lead role in the design development of the showcase and operational headquarters for Guardian auction house in Beijing’s historic core. He was also involved in the development of large scale mixed-use projects, including: a 268m tall hotel and residential building Kuala Lumpur; Axel Springer media headquarters in Berlin; a Chinese insurance headquarters tower in Beijing CBD; and a residential development Shenzen.
As a postgraduate at Universidad Central de Chile, Marcel worked at Javier Bize Architects. He later worked with award-winning Marco Polidura at Polidura + Talhouk architects and Iñaki Volante at CPV Architects, participating in a design for a desert museum in the Atacama desert and a number of residential projects.
In 2009, Marcel graduated with honours from Universidad Central de Chile and has since returned as a visiting professor and guest lecturer to his alma mater. His acclaimed academic thesis focused on the protection of Chilean beaches from construction projects along the shoreline, reducing erosion whilst maintaining viable construction costs.
Upon graduation, he worked on a number of private commissions along the coast of Chile in collaboration with Errol Holmberg, structural engineer and project leader at Rene Lagos Engineers.
Born a descendant of a Swedish-German family from the south of Chile he is fluent in English and Spanish; competent in German and Mandarin.
He spent his formative years in Santiago, Chile and Oakland, California.