More than 80 percent of revenue for Snøhetta's Oslo office comes from the Middle East. Mainly from an opera in Saudi Arabia.
Arkitektkontoret Snøhetta designs buildings and landscapes worldwide and is headquartered in Oslo.
According to Isabella Alveberg, chief executive of the architecture office, Snøhetta AS Group has increased its revenue from NOK 365 million in 2022 to NOK 728 million in 2023.
– The company has achieved good results in recent years and we are very satisfied in 2023, Alveberg writes to E24.
The annual accounts of the office in Oslo, Snøhetta Oslo AS, were published in the brøngøysund register this week.
According to Snøhetta Oslo AS's annual accounts, the company expects revenues of more than 506 million in 2023, up from 195 million in the previous year.
It is also estimated that more than 412 million in 2023 will come from the Middle East.
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– The first year was scary
Opera in the desert
By the end of 2022, Snøhetta has been awarded a contract to build an opera house in Saudi Arabia. Alveberg says the increase in income at the Oslo office comes primarily from the Opera House project in Saudi Arabia, where everyone working on the building has full responsibility.
The Opera House covers an area of 46,000 square meters and has four halls. It should be ready by 2028. The Opera House is located in the city of Diriya, just outside Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
As part of the kingdom, the city will become one of the leading tourist destinations in the country.”Vision 2030Vision 2030The plan is to reduce the country's dependence on oil and diversify the economy through tourism, among other things.». That's what it says Pages of Snøhetta.
– We have overall responsibility and invoice for all our subcontractors. The revenue is huge, but we pay 65 percent of it to subcontractors. Profits reflect the project's high complexity, he writes.
Operating profit at the Oslo office more than doubled last year, despite rising costs. In 2023, it ended up at NOK 38.4 million compared to NOK 15.3 million the previous year.
Alveberg added that investing in the Middle East is in line with the architect's office's overall priorities.
– We work together and focus on access to the general public and our ability to influence social and environmental sustainability, he says.
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More employees
The Oslo office had an average of 107 employees last year and spent more than 122 million on wages, benefits and taxes, according to the accounts. That means an average of over a million per employee.
– From 2022 to 2023 we have increased the workforce in the group by around 25 employees, so that we have a total of 250 employees, Alveberg says. Half of these people work in the Oslo office, he adds.
– Profits are used to reinvest in the skills development of our employees and in new competitions so that we can continue to engage in projects around the world, says the CEO.
At the end of the year, the sum of equity and debt of the Oslo office was over NOK 161 million, compared with NOK 74 million the previous year.
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