Soon enough, their overhaul of Times Square will cater to the 400,000-plus pedestrians that walk through the site everyday.

The firm, which has main offices in Oslo, Norway, and New York City, works on some quieter projects too, like this ZEB Pilot House, situated in a less-than-glamorous industrial stretch of Larvik, Norway, some 80 miles south of Oslo. Even though it's out of the limelight, the ZEB house—a collaboration between Snøhetta and the Research Center on Zero Emission Buildings—could have a major impact on residential architecture going forward: Not only is it a zero emissions house, it's a "plus house," meaning it actually produces excess energy. It's enough that an electric car could drive for 12,500 miles on the surplus energy from the ZEB.