The Cologne-based firm JSWD Architekten was founded in 2000. Starting out as a small team, today the four partners Jürgen Steffens, Olaf Drehsen and brothers Konstantin and Frederik Jaspert head an office with 60 employees. The partners come from the Rhine and Mosel regions and started on their architectural careers as RWTH students in Aachen. Günter Behnisch, Schuster Architects as well as Volkwin Marg (gmp) influenced their further professional development, followed by teaching posts and the establishment of the firm. In the last several years, JSWD has realized many projects in Germany and increasingly in other European countries, for the most part following successfully entered competitions. The resulting buildings reveal the continuous pursuit of conceptual formal clarity. Working with a limited range of clearly defined elements, the firm creates unambiguous hierarchies inside its buildings and in open spaces. The identity of  each design evolves from the specific situation and the aspiration to reflect the user’s own image in corporate architecture.