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About group8asia

Group8’s history begins in 2000 through the friendship of a group of recently graduated architects. Reunited under the same roof - they redesigned an old police station to create an architect workshop in Geneva (Switzerland) - their desire was to share their energy and competences to experiment architectural competitions and to design their first projects as independent. With their common grounding as graduates, they sought to reproduce their workshop studies and use their theoretical knowledge by working together and experiencing a real workshop in their brand new office. This is how the group8 experience came to life.

After the delivery of number of large-scale projects in Switzerland to high acclaim, most notably the renovation of the World Trade Organization headquarters as well as that of the United Nations in Geneva, the firm has gained extensive experience in cooperating with public project owners such as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations Office (UNO), World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva’s State and the City of Geneva, while also carrying out many private projects.

In 2007, group8 extended its experience to the international scale by opening its Asian branch group8asia, based in Hanoi (Vietnam) and led by Manuel Der Hagopian and Grégoire Du Pasquier. Group8asia has gone from strength to strength through the commission of various projects in the private sector, most notably for Vietnam Telecom FPT. In other domains, successes have come through the award of international competitions, like the project for Punggol Waterway Terraces in Singapore, comprising over 2’000 apartments for the government of Singapore. Since then, group8asia has expanded its presence by opening an office in Singapore, which is today the headquarters of group8asia.
Aiming to innovate and produce creative strategies, group8asia focuses on setting standards at all levels, particularly in terms of economic and environmental efficiency. Integrating cultural added-value into each project remains a central part of all actions and discussions within the team.

Group8asia’s workshop culture offers satisfaction and synergies through teamwork at both local and international level. All projects are submitted to the same rigorous internal process, whatever the scale, from the study for a simple birdcage to the development of a mixed-use complex or the master planning for a new town.

Group8asia’s projects feature regularly in local and international publications. All of the firm’s partners actively participate in professional associations for architects, both in Switzerland and Asia. Group8asia is also part of the theoretical debate in architecture through its involvement in a number of lectures and teaching endeavours all over the world.

Group8asia is an entirely Swiss-owned company. Based in Geneva (Switzerland), Singapore and Hanoi (Vietnam), it is led by two founding architects Manuel Der Hagopian and Grégoire Du Pasquier, each with more than fifteen years’ experience, assisted by two associates Nicolas Moser and Laurence Savy. The company specializes in architectural design, urban planning and interior design.