About
Superimpose Architecture is an award-winning Sino-Dutch design practice based in Beijing, Rotterdam, and Hong Kong founded by three accomplished partners Carolyn Leung, Ben de Lange and Ruben Bergambagt. Since 2015 Superimpose has worked on a wide range of project typologies and scale in Europe and Asia. With our international team of innovative designers, we create meaningful and sustainable spaces through architecture, masterplan, interior and exhibition design.
Superimpose employs a bold and creative Dutch design approach hand-in-hand with a tactile and sensible Asian design philosophy. We don’t advocate any particular design style but rather focus on applying problem-solving strategies to find functional, sustainable, innovative, crisp, balanced, well-detailed and striking design solutions. We take pride in thinking along with our clients to improve or redefine the design brief. Over the years Superimpose Architecture has built a solid portfolio of projects, which together establish a proven track record for strategy-based design.
Our name ‘Superimpose’ reflects our design methodology and office mentality. We design with contextual awareness and carefully overlay contextual components with our designs with the responsibility to improve, protect, recycle, revitalize and sustain both our natural and built environments. We design with future generations in mind and our design relates to people in terms of scale and sustainability.
Superimpose has completed multiple high-caliber projects such as the TOD project Vanke Sky City in Hangzhou, rural education Center ‘Micr-O’, factory transformation ‘the Re-Veil’, residential development ‘Y-Loft City’ and the Well Living Lab, amongst many others. The partners share experience on around thirty built projects. Prior to founding Superimpose in 2016, the partners worked at international top-tier practices such as Foster + Partners, Benoy, Spark Architects, Richard Stirk + Harbour, waa, Urbanus and Mei Architects and worked on the Sterling prize winning Bloomberg Headquarters and the Amazon Headquarters in London and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Yinchuan.
Besides receiving multiple project design awards, such as the ‘Iconic Awards’, the ‘American Architecture Prize’ and the DFA in Hong Kong, Superimpose has been receiving international recognition by being shortlisted as Dezeen Emerging Architect of the year 2018 and by AD100 YOUNG as one of the top 100 of young architecture practices in China in 2020.
Our team is selected based on diversity rather than similarity so that different perspectives and cultures can inspire us. We believe design should not be a sole creation by one individual. We design by listening to each other and organize ‘idea farms’ to stimulate knowledge exchange in between our international practices.
We value all forms of collaboration to make our designs more complete. Besides our successful collaborations with numerous local design practices and architecture related disciplines, we collaborate with sustainability experts, cultural experts, movie makers, projection artists, light artists, wood craftsman, furniture makers and many others. We support sustainable initiatives that create a better and livable community to our future generation.
Superimpose also continuously contributes to academic and public design education. We have participated in various lectures, key-note talks and design reviews at the AA Visiting School, Tsinghua University, Oxfords Brookes university, Dutch Embassy, Beijing Design Week, Hong Kong Green Architecture Association, the Hong Kong Chinese University, etc.