No half-measures Two years ago, experienced architects Niels Christoffersen and Erik Weiling decided to go it alone, together. “We wanted the chance to get closer to our clients and to see the projects through from start to finish, so we decided to ‘walk the line’,” Christoffersen explains. “We don’t do things by half-measures and we didn’t want to have to compromise to the detriment of our buildings, our clients or ourselves.” The result became Christoffersen & Weiling Architects, or CWA for short, which creates little masterpieces for real people to live in. By Louise Older Steffensen | Photos: Ralf Buscher Photography and Tina Stephansen
“I think that idea of ‘no half-measures’ really defines us as architects. In order to be successful, we think, you have to have a simple idea that you follow through with. Of course, that makes it all the more important to come up with the right idea, or the right line, to follow the project from start to finish, and it’s a line that both we and the client have 70 | Issue 129 | October 2019
to be happy with. The simpler the basic concept, the better. And that doesn’t have to mean minimalist.” Despite the company’s young age, CWA has been responsible for 18 unique homes and several transformations and, in the process, they have racked up several awards. Most recently, the partners
were awarded both the Iconic Award and the German Design Award for their naturalistic modern farmhouse, Casa Ry. The secret, it seems, is a simple, joint creative vision. Christoffersen and Weiling knew each other from Arkitema Architects, where the former was creative leader and the latter acted as a senior consultant. “We knew we worked well together and that we complemented each other’s strengths,” Christoffersen says. “Most of all, we had a common goal. We very much appreciated the opportunities to work on big builds that we’d had at the big architectural offices, but that often entails building something to be sold or rented out immediately. What we both loved the most was those times