The site of the new cathedral forum is central Lund, in direct connection to the cathedral itself. On the site is situated the existing “Arken” house, which is a building of historical value.

The new building aims to integrate itself in the urban fabric in a natural way, by adapting to the scale and lines of the surrounding cityscape. At the same time our vision has been to create a contemporary building that adds a new layer to the many historic layers that characterize the urban environment of central Lund.

The shape of the building creates new adjacent public spaces: The entrance plaza towards Kyrkogatan street, the entrance passage facing the cathedral, and a triangular square towards Kungsgatan street. In addition to the welcoming exterior spaces an internal atrium is created, as well as an interior courtyard, shaped by the existing and the new building.

The central public space in the building is the entrance hall that is reached from both entrances. The entrance hall is formed as a meeting space; a general and generous which can hold various activities like reception, exhibitions and a cafe. A two-story atrium allows daylight to enter from above, while visually integrating the public spaces with the congregational facilities on the second story. The auditorium is conceived as a unique space, with its skylight pointing up towards the cathedral towers.

The exterior is a simple yet characteristic volumes, its lines playing with the surrounding buildings. Towards Kyrkogatan street the roof lines of the Arken house are continued over the entrance plaza. Towards the cathedral the entrance is signaled by the characteristic skylight.

The facade of the building is made of a brass alloy, a natural material that ages with a rich and living texture, allowing the building to age into its surroundings; at the inauguration it shimmers like gold, but in a couple of years it will have oxidized into a deep and matte bronze color.

The interior of the building is cast in concrete with form of wooden boards. The massive and heavy character of the material is balanced by the play of light in the interior spaces.

Hamnbadet i Göteborg är kulmen på en lång period av urban transformation i ett centralt område, som gått från övergiven hamn till en blågrön stadspark. Omvandlingen har burits av ett starkt koncept som kallats för ”badkultur” där bastun, som byggdes 2015, var en pionjär. Den direkta kontakten med vattnet och den tillåtande hamnmiljön utgjorde grunden för en process där en rad prototyper utvecklades genom medborgardeltagande, vilket etablerade platsen som ett offentligt besöksmål för hela Göteborg.

Bland prototyperna fanns ett litet saltvattenbad som hämtade sitt vatten från älvens saltkil, på sex meters djup. Utifrån det testet växte idén om en mångfunktionell, flytande park med flera saltvattenbassänger med öppen botten. Genom att hänga sex meter långa dukväggar under ytan och pumpa ut det förorenade sötvattnet kan bassängerna istället kontinuerligt fyllas med rent saltvattnet. Det lågintensiva pumpandet förnyar också vattnet och gör ett reningsverk överflödigt.

Hamnbadet är tänkt att ansluta till promenaden längs med gränsen mellan land och vattnet på Kvillepiren. En sekvens av slingrande spänger och plattformar bildar balkonger för vistelse vid och över vattnet. De leder fram till en mer intim plats, med entréer till omklädningsrummen och bastun. Servicebyggnaderna hyser även personalutrymmen och offentliga toaletter för parkens gäster.

Två broar spänner över våtmarken i strandlinjen och når badet på olika nivåer. En spiralrörelse binder samman dem och tillgängliggör pontoner och bassänger i flera riktningar, sittgradängen, trappor och ramp – rumsliga element som skapar ytor för solbad, sittplatser, dusch och utsikt. Det finns bassänger för simning, hopp och lek. Den raka saltvattenbassängen riktas mot stadens centrum och ger känslan av att simma i det stora älvrummet. Den runda saltvattenpoolen omges av flera nivåer att hoppa från. Och den gamla sötvattenpoolen från prototypfasen som har återbrukats och anpassats med fokus på vattenlek och möjlighet till högre temperatur än övriga bassänger.

Efter Norra hamnens stensatta kajstråk, mjuknar landskapet upp successivt och mötet med havet övergår i park och strand. Det är i övergången som en ny plats växer fram. 

På denna plats har medborgarnas önskemål styrt utformningen. Vårt förslag tolkar och gestaltar en plats som bjuder på matupplevelser, mötesplatser för att skapa och lära; möjligheten att koppla av i lä från vind och regn; lek, sport och spel; och en utomhusscen, samtidigt som den synliggör vädrets skådespel. 

Karantänens vackra tegelbyggnad får en ny skrud för att passa konstnärer och konsthantverkare. Karantänen kallar vi framöver för Hantverkshuset.

Hantverkshusets bottenvåning öppnas upp till en fängslande ateljémiljö. Här har vi skapat studios för att hantverkare och konstnärer ska kunna arbeta med bland annat keramik, smide, läderhantverk, måleri, slöjd och grafik.

Centralt i byggnaden leder ett nytt trapphus upp till två större verkstadsrum för kursundervisning i konstnärliga verksamheter och evenemang. Rummen får breddare vyer över horisonten och sundet, och en visuell kontakt ut mot norr och söder genom glasade öppningar i gavlarna.

Den nya verksamheten tillåter en varsam renovering av huset där byggnadens ursprungliga struktur och materialverkan lyfts fram samtidigt som den övergår i en robust verkstadsmiljö.

Framför Karantänen tar Hantverkstorget form. Torget avgränsas mot norr med hjälp av en ny byggnad som vi kallar Vädersalen. Här kan en kulinarisk scen för alla plånböcker flytta in i en händelserik saluhallmiljö.

Hantverkshusets och Vädersalens verksamheter ges möjlighet att ta plats på torget. Tillfälliga utställningar, workshops, uppträdanden, fester samt marknader livar upp platsen under olika säsonger. Torget befolkas även av saluhallens gäster och Gröningens besökare. Nya träd fångar vinden och styr upp den så att endast lätta vindar når torget. Vid regn kan barn och unga plaska i vattenspegeln.

Vädersalen, med sitt hölje av mjukreflekterande metall, återger omgivningens och himlens kulörer och ljus, i en evigföränderlig målerisk avbild.  Väderskådespelet framhävs av byggnaden själv genom fasader och tak.

Mot torget öppnar sig husets gavel och bjuder på klättring i ett väderskyddat uterum. Längst med en välkomnande fasad fortsätter promenaden för att så småningom, öppna upp sikten mot havet med en norrvänd utomhusscen. Här kan mindre konserter och uppträdande anordnas med plats för publik i norr. Scenen skapar ett skyddat rum för blåsiga och regniga dagar, där även vackra solnedgångar över havet kan skådas.

Inuti Vädersalen serveras det mat från hela världen. Här får ett flertal passionerade kockar var sitt bås med delade kärnfunktioner som disk, förråd, leveranser, och sophantering. Servisen är tillverkad i Hantverkshuset. Havets skiftningar kan skådas från alla platser i huset, ett längsgående fönsterband bjuder på utsikter både på botten- och övre våningen.

Utom­hus kan man sitta under husets generösa taksprång och njuta av regnets ljud eller eftermiddagssolen i lä. Sundet glimrar igenom den gröna Kustträdgården. I trädgården finns det rum för lek och stillhet, öppna och gömda platser, sinnliga och kontemplativa. Funktionen styrs av väder, vind och besökarens lust.

Kustträdgården är delvis vindskyddad samtidigt som vinden bor i den. Tallarna, oxlarna och ekar formas av vindens kraft. Låga buskar som slån, en och nypon skapar lä till småfåglar och insekter. Den är karg under vinterhalvåret men frodigare på sommaren. Trädgården tar hand om regnvattnet från Vädersalen när regnet flödar eller sipprar från taket ner i växtbäddarna. Vegetationen skapar en tydlig övergång mellan byggnadens stramhet och trädgårdens frodighet. Mur och sten möter tall, en, nypon, fläder och högt gräs.

Från ett större perspektiv önskar vi manifestera platsens nya identitet genom ett vertikalt konstverk. Vinden väcker konstverket till liv och lik en fyr, synliggör det Gröningens start från långt avstånd. Vi kallar det för Väderfångaren.

Den nya scenbyggnaden placeras centralt i Norra Kanalområdet och hjälper att organisera flöden i den framtida parken. Utformad som en sammansättning av tre paviljonger kring ett stort sexkantigt svävande tak, bildar den nya strukturen olika rumsligheter både inomhus, utomhus, och under taket.

Såväl de yttre rummen kring strukturen som det stora scenrummet under taket kompletteras med funktionerna som är placerade i sidopaviljongerna, och på så sett möjliggörs en stor flexibilitet i användningen.

Mångsidigheten bidrar till en varierad upplevelse när man promenerar kring den: Vid ankomst från Norra Kanalgatan möter vi en entréplats med möjlighet till uteservering. Om vi rör oss längst med kajkanten vid kanalen, möter vi den stora scenen som öppnar sig ut mot söder. Promenerar vi västerifrån möter vi ett grönare och mindre rum kring lilla scenen, definierat av såväl den nya strukturens paviljonger som av ett tak av omslutande träd.

Den nya utomhusscenen inspireras av och knyter an till en träarkitekturtradition som finns i Karlsborg. Med sin flerkantiga geometri, sin dekorativa konstruktionsverkan och en färgsättning i två kulörer får den ett uttryck som kan läsas i kontinuitet med den traditionen, samtidigt som den bidrar med en nutida gestaltning till Norrakanalområdets framtida karaktär. Trästrukturen är synlig och naturmaterialet rått och taktilt: Taket består av pelare och balkar som bildar en svävande sexkantig figur över scen- och torgrummet. Dessa är tänkta konstrueras av korslimmat trä, vars yta behandlas med kiselbaserad impregnering och lämnas synlig.

Scenrummet, som också kan betraktas som ett torg under tak, omsluts av tre enkla volymer i trä. Dessa definieras med stående reglar av naturträ, och fält av målade träskivor, samt sinuskorrugerade täta tak. Träytans materialitet betonas i relation till de målade koppargröna skivorna som täcker mellanrummet och skänker byggnaden ett levande uttryck. Mötet med marken gestaltas med en sten eller gjuten sockel och tar emot de olika nivåerna i parken. På entrésidan ligger scengolvet i nivå, medan kanten på motsatt sida bildar en upphöjd scen mot söder.

Byggnadsvolymen orienteras längs med Hagelstigen i kontinuitet med befintlig flerbostadshusbebyggelse. Programmet är sammanhållen i en enda huskropp som inrymmer sex lägenheter, gemensamhetsutrymmen, personalutrymmen och en övervåning med arbetsplatser.

Byggnaden karaktäriseras av ett stort utkragande tak som möjliggör en inredd övervåning och väderskyddade uteplatser för de boende. Huvudentrén är indragen i byggnadsvolymen och ligger mot Hagelstigen. I anslutning till den finns parkering för rörelsehindrade och cykelparkering. Övriga parkeringsplatser når man från den norra gatan. En förrådsbyggnad med miljörum och lägenhetsförråd längs med Kurravaaravägen avskärmar buller och ramar in trädgården. Trädgården erbjuder möjligheter till odling och flera olika platser för samling utomhus.

Bostäderna är utformade för att vara yteffektiva och med god tillgänglighet främja de boendes möjlighet att leva ett tryggt och självständigt liv. Bostaden erbjuder flera olika rumsligheter. Köket har en tydlig avdelad rumslighet och i det stora samvarorummet kan sovdelen avskärmas med ett draperi.

Gemensamhetsutrymmena består av en gemensam entré/vindfång med möjlighet till rullstolsspolning, rullstolsförråd, tvättstuga, gemensamt kök i anslutning till ett samlande vardagsrum och tv-hörna med en öppen spis. Intill det gemensamma vardagsrummet som har en generös dubbeltakhöjd finns en förlängning i en gemensam uteplats under tak riktad mot sydväst.

Personalutrymmena innehåller omklädningsrum, toalett med dusch och ett pausrum med pentry.

På det övre våningsplanet finns kontorsarbetsplatser som man når via en egen entré från det gemensamma vindfånget. Här finns sexton arbetsplatser, ett pausrum, kapprum, RWC och WC/städ samt teknikrum och mötesrum. Programmet i övervåningen har potential att samutnyttjas med de boende

The traces of Wilhelm Von Nottbeck Park from the 30´s show the intention of extending the park south towards the corner between Puuvillatehtaankatu and Kuninkaankatu. We want to extend the park in that manner as well as place the Art Museum consolidating the corner and the entrance to the Finlayson area from the west. The new museum building is thought as a freestanding volume in the park. The division of the program in two volumes brings the possibility of keeping the historical visual connections between the Headquarters building and the Finlayson Palace, prolonging the park between the buildings and integrating an outdoor exhibition area.

The new museum building has a vertical elegance. Being the proportions and widths of its facades in concordance with the Churches and the Headquarters building gavels, It connects with the scale of the surrounding fabric while rising above the neighbor buildings and the magnificent trees. The geometry of the plan is a play between two directions, the one of the existing building fabric and the Finlaysons Palaces diagonal orientation. While moving around the building a playful experience of spaces at eye level is orchestrated by the facetted building volume, opening the view´s around the corners, anticipating entrances and connections between street and park.

Moving along Puuvillatehtaankatu from west to east the new building brings spatial clarity to the park on the south of the Fynlaison church, as well as to the space west of the Headquarters building. At the new square, a staircase pavilion is placed to give access to the future parking underground. Some new trees are planted organizing a space to linger and where to park the bikes. Fynlaisoningkato is to be paved at the same level as the park and become a shared space in continuation with the peatonal streets of the Finlayson area, prolonging the new square towards the Museums entrances.

The volume in the west corner of the park is to include the public part of the program and a smaller service building is to be built on the east part of the plot, which will fulfill the needs for the service facilities, with good access for the transport logistics in relation with the museum. The Museum building will include: the exhibition areas, both permanent and temporary, atelier, meeting spaces, café and the museums shop, as well as the needed wc and cleaning facilities in relation to them. The two buildings are connected through an underground passage. The technical facilities are to be placed in one floor underneath the museum building, possibly serving both.

The buildings materiality relates to the textile history of the industry of Finlayson. A three-dimensional extruded ceramic undulating surface is to be mounted for the facade of both buildings. The profile to be described specifically for this project as in the adjacent drawings and images.

The tactile undulating surface is based on a vertical pattern. The textile effect of this surface is enhanced by a set of horizontal bands that appear as waved into it. These bands have the same pattern but are to be mounted horizontally. They are used for the composition of the facade giving a sense of scale from the distance. At the same time, they appear at the close encounter with the building, as to solve the buildings plinth in direct contact with the hand.

The punched window niches are defined by a set back of the window pane as well as the fold out of  a Cornish element upwards, and as a specially designed ledge, also folding diagonally out of the setback. The elements around the windows are defined with flat ceramic elements of same color, to become distinct in relation to the undulating surface.

Verksamheten äger rum kring en samlande Verkstadsgata. Den kantas av den befintliga tegelbyggnaden och de två nya och förskjutna träbyggnadslängorna med verkstäderna.

Programmet organiseras i tre huskroppar. Verkstadsbyggnaderna delas i två längor för att anpassa volymerna till de befintliga trädens lägen. Längorna placeras parallellt med den befintliga entrébyggnaden, och bildar, på så viss, en aktiv verkstadsgata sinsemellan och en plats mot sydväst för utomhusundervisning under träden. Den tredje huskroppen, avsedd för diverse förvaring, miljörum och stödutrustning, bildar en behövlig gräns mellan den nya driftytan utomhus och de befintliga villorna avgränsande mot söder. Besökare- och transporttrafik fördelas vid parkeringen. Besökarna ankommer på samma sätt som de gör idag, längst med stigen norrut, och passerar lekparken och ett skogsparti innan ankomsten till muséets ingång och Verkstadsgatan. Vid ankomst skapas ett entrétorg för utomhussamlingar i relation till befintlig huvudentré. Den nuvarande skulpturen som illustrerar två hantverkare flyttas till detta rum, och vi skapar en sittbänk längst med den låga stödmuren som tar hand om nivåskillnaderna. Transporter leds, i stället, via den södra delen av parkeringen, in i den nya driftytan. Här får man känslan av att befinna sig i en hembygdsgård där mycket av verksamhetens stödjande arbete pågår. Trämaterialet ur de träd som avverkas för att skapa denna yta föreslås användas i den nya byggnaden, eller tas omhand av verksamheten.

Det sker tre platsbildningar i rummet: Entrétorget, Metall- och Glasverkstadens smidesområde utomhus och Grillplatsen vid rummets andra ända. Därifrån rör man sig vidare mot sydväst, under ett tak, för att komma fram till träverkstadens yttre undervisningsrum, eller österut i området för fortsatt besök av muséets hus. Verkstadslängans utkragande tak följer rörelsen och bjuder på en skyddad gång längst med gatan. Från den kan man titta in, eller delta i, den pågående verksamheten såväl inne som ute. Gångstråk anläggs även under den befintliga tegelbyggnadens tak. Stenbelagda golv beskriver platsbildningarna, och större kvarnstenar används som podier för smidesarbeten eller som underlag för grillning.

Duved Future is a development project in Sweden. The approach is to use the village of Duved as a tool for social and city/village development innovation. The development is to be done from the inside, in close connection to the inhabitants and the existing village.

Latest news on the project you may find at http://duvedframtid.se

Five houses

There is a big need of qualitative dwellings at affordable prices. Swedish property developers are centered in medium- or high end apartments saturating the market with an extraordinary homogeneous range of dwelling prices and types.

We are searching for inspiring alternatives to those of the market with an injection of architecture.

The development of smaller communities is not given the same consideration than that of the bigger cities.  By focusing in Duved the project wants to bring attention to a growing interest in alternative ways of living in more sustainable manners than those of the bigger cities.

The direct contact with the natural landscape, the cultural richness as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial character of Duveds community makes this an extraordinary setting for the “5 Hus” project.

Duved takes the lead and develops an exhibition of  five new buildings that illustrate the possibilities that architecture of the smaller scale and the smaller wallet can bring.

We are searching for sustainable ways of living and living spaces that ensure a better life quality for today and for the future.

Sweden wants to be ahead in the development of the wooden building industry. The wide disconnection between the architecture field and the building industry in Sweden is giving poor results generating production systems that though effective in costs and time, are forgetting the human dimension.

We are searching for ideas that elevate the resulting architecture and production systems within the market product range that connect these fields again, resulting in processes where Architecture and Structural ideas dictate the needs that the industry needs to cover and not the other way around. Our aim is to build five prototypes that can bring the industry to new types and production methods.

El nuevo edificio de Ciencias Biomédicas de la universidad Carlos III se sitúa en el eje de la calle Buhigas conformando una entrada al campus desde el Oeste.

El volúmen se articula entre un nivel superior dado por la cota de la rotonda, y un nivel inferior a cota con los accesos desde la calle Madrid, y desde el pasaje norte-sur interior al recinto que conecta las entradas desde la  Avda. Federica de Montseny y la calle Carabanchel .

La decisión de la posición del volúmen es estratégica no sólo en relación al entorno exterior, ofreciendo una fachada monumental al eje de la calle a la que se presenta, sino, y fundamentalmente, en relación a los edificios existentes en el solar; una oportunidad para generar una densidad y una situación urbana necesarias, proporcionada y modulada por el juego de volúmentes y recorridos existentes, los edificios a añadir y los vacíos contenidos entre los mismos.

Configuración espacial y programa.

El programa se ordena en las plantas más públicas de Aulas y Laboratorios, en torno al eje éste-oeste recogiendo las entradas a ambos niveles del solar en una secuencia espacial emocionante:  desde un espacio exterior cubierto que marca la entrada desde la nueva Plaza, a través de un patio abierto y un Atrio con desarrollo diagonal y luz cenital destilada a través del plegado de su techo, hasta el zaguán a levante.

Éste generoso espacio público central en doble altura, definido por la topografía del suelo en terrazas y el carácterístico plegado de su cubierta, ofrece una diversidad de lugares para el encuentro, dotados de infraestructura para el trabajo portátil y en equipo, posibilitando el aprendizaje colaborativo. En el Atrio se acordarán citas y reuniones, se trabajará entre clases, y se recibirá al alumnado al comienzo del curso lectivo, se expondrán trabajos y se anunciarán y realizarán eventos, se convertirá en el escaparate público de la facultad, generando su imagen representativa.

Las aulas se plantean en planta baja como una prolongación natural del Atrio. Espacios con superficies que posibilitan el trabajo en grupos de diversos tamaños, proporcionados para configuraciones de amueblado flexibles y recoger las didácticas colaborativas actuales.

Todas las Aulas tendrán contacto directo con el exterior y los espacios ajardinados alrededor del edificio, ofreciendo su extensión a los mismos.

Los despachos, lugares para el trabajo y reflexión individual, se ordenan a partir de planta segunda formando patios, abiertos y cerrados, en crujías en dirección norte sur, y conectadas en anillos efectivizando las comunicaciones verticales y localizando nodos de servicios por plantas. En relación a éstos nodos se proponen espacios de reunión informal, que inviten al diálogo, dónde encontrarse cuando se busque el intercambio de ideas.

La escala de los espacios públicos en el edificio se modula para adecuarse al nivel de privacidad creciente en altura según los usos. Así los patios en torno a los que se disponen los despachos adquieren una proporción más doméstica que los espacios de accesos y Atrio de las plantas inferiores, facilitando a su vez unas condiciones de soleamiento óptimas.

Como complemento a los espacios programados ofrece el edificio una serie de terrazas y jardines (ver planta 01, 02 y 04), generadas por la articulación del volúmen, con carácter entre interior y exterior, de grandes cualidades y versatilidad. Éstos espacios están  pensados para expandir la acti-

vidad educativa más allá del aula, son lugares atractivos que favorezcen el intercambio social y que podrán usarse tanto a diario para el descanso, tomar el aire entre actividades, o con programación.

Carácter, materialidad, concepto energético.

El carácter del volúmen se define por el ritmo de los elementos portantes acentúando las verticales con un orden de pilares profundos y una envolvente que se extiende entre los mismos, en bandas verticales que se pliegan horizontalmente hacia el exterior a modo de sombrajos, o hacia el interior a modo de terrazas cubiertas.

La envolvente se define de unas piezas cerámicas cilíndricas estruídas conformando una celosía que da sombra en todo su contorno y mejora la prestación energética del edificio.

La textura de las mismas será microestriada, consiguiendo dada su forma cilíndrica un efecto satinado y de suavidad dado el juego de luces y sombras sobre la fachada.

La cerámica se propone de color natural ocre estableciendo una conversación formal y material con su vecino de la Biblioteca, éste acentuando las horizontales, y vestido de una piel que se pliega en vertical y con estrías de mayor tamaño y color rojo ladrillo.

La estructura portante se propone fundamentalmente de prefabricado de hormigón visto en todo el contorno del edificio, a su vez que en vigas de grandes luces del espacio central, y elementos de fachada de panel sandwich de prefabricado de grc con aislante de alta prestación.   Estructura ligera de madera laminada en vigas y elementos de forjados de madera CLT para los volúmenes de oficinas, caracterizarán el interior de las mismas a su vez que minimizan las cargas.

En general se trata de conseguir una envolvente de gran prestación aislante y de regulación solar óptima, que minimice el gasto energético del edificio. Se plantea a su vez un sistema de ventilación natural controlada favorecida por la configuración en patios, terrazas y pasajes del edificio.

Las cubiertas habitables se resolverán como cubiertas invertidas soladas en las zonas de estar, y como cubiertas ajardinadas en el resto. Las cubiertas superiores sin uso se resuelven como cubiertas vegetales.

Södertälje Central Station has a rich history of transformations that has resulted in the singular open square that characterizes it. The square is framed by the train platforms and two old station buildings that once served as waiting rooms. The fourth side is open towards the street with a buss hub, and the city´s Central Park.

The new pavilion stretches as an ’L’ along the square’s southeast corner with its sweeping roof. It meets the train tracks in its entire front while defining an outdoor space together with the original station building. The pavilion receives both train and buss passengers from the different levels that it connects, as it provides with shelter and seating for the passers-by. Thus is the station’s square transformed in a sequence of urban spaces and the area between the pavilion and the existing buildings get a unified character and becomes an outdoor waiting room.

The square complements with benches, an sculpture that invites to play, and greenery in-between the existing trees. This offers a wide variety of “meeting while waiting” situations: seating outside, under a roof or the sky, seating inside with a broad view of the surroundings or simply playing with the inviting sculpture. A given meeting place in the centre of the everyday action.

The pavilion´s public functions are transparent and easily spotted from around the station. They include a ticket selling office, and a generous waiting room centrally located. From there, through the transparent facades, it is possible to look at the trains, the busses, the park, and the passage connecting the two levels. At the same time, it conveys light and social presence to the street and the square, specially at night and during winter. The pavilion houses even other secondary functions to support both the train transit as the bus operations such as resting rooms, back offices, changing rooms for the employees, as well as storage and cleaning services.

The pavilion’s design derives from the historical Swedish train platform canopy first installed in the 1920´s. It departs from the canopy’s geometry and material and develops it with a contemporary execution and modern woodworking techniques. The linear traditional canopy with freestanding columns evolves through repetition in a pavilion that sweeps over a larger area and outlines characteristic spaces, while keeping the canopy’s spatiality.

The structure consists of columns, arched beams and roof slab boards of cross laminated timber which’s surface is treated with a silicon based impregnation to keep it exposed. The timber surface gets accentuated and grants a living expression.
Aside from the evident sustainable advantages of building with wood, the cross laminated timber with its sterling quality, structural qualities and light weight suits perfectly this kind of public environment. Its production is simple, with a high prefabrication degree, which allows for adaptations directly from factory with a extraordinary precision and detailing.

There are two possible ways of exploring the Kemeri National park by foot today. A shorter and a longer promenade are possible on pathways that are carefully lifted from the ground to leave place for nature to grow undisturbed.

The project suggest that the shorter circuit is developed into a wider wooden path offering the possibility for kid-carriages and wheelchairs to cross and a two-direction flow. The longer circuit around the park is left unchanged.

It is in the crossroads of both where a third choice appears: The observatory tower. The tower enables the accessible rise to the magnificent landscape view, at the same time, that it offers shelter on rainy days as well as a meeting space inside.

The movement is organized around a gathering space open to a skylight. A sheltered path in between load-bearing filters of timber slats follows an ascendant spiral trajectory up to the view. The load-bearing envelopes frame the landscape in every turn the ramp takes and offers orientation and directions. Once on the top the free contemplation of the grandness of the place and the sky views is guaranteed by the possibility to take a sit around the central skylight and enjoy the views.

The central space becomes a natural gathering place where to sit at meet up or receive explanations, or wait up for the rain to still.

A sculptural staircase leads down the visitor through the central space. An accessible way down is offered by the outer loop, wide enough for both simultaneous ascendant and descendant flows.

The observatory and gathering tower will be built in massive wood for the beams, pillars and plank flooring,  and CLT elements for the stairways. All dimensioned to grey naturally when weathered and with a silicium treatment for protection. This implies an almost free maintenance of the structure, that can be repainted with the silicium treatment every tenth year.

La plaza del almacén – Plaza

Entendemos el espacio público de la plaza como un lugar de encuentro vecinal dónde conviven todas las edades, y todos pueden encontrar un lugar en ella.

La actividad de la plaza será una combinación de programas espontáneos de mano de iniciativas de los ciudadanos, con programas definidos por los centros culturales del entorno y la municipalidad. En ese sentido el centro cultural El Almacén puede extender su actividad al espacio de la plaza. Se propone un equipamiento con postes de iluminación y tomas eléctricas que posibiliten el uso como escena o cine con proyecciones en el muro. El espacio bajo el sombrajo puede acoger tanto actividades culturales y exposiciones, como mercados de toda índole, y ofrece una sombra a la que sentarse durante todo el día.

Componentes:

El muro             – El muro existente es un elemento importante en la definición del espacio de la plaza, con su perfil contra el cielo azul y su carácterística superficie rugosa y encalada se mantiene limpio y conforma el límite éste del espacio. El muro recogerá proyecciones de cine de verano y eventos varios.

El suelo             – Con inspiración en el paisaje agrícola de la Geria se ordena el espacio de la plaza a partir de un patrón de formas de media luna que recuerdan a los arenados y los “pareones” de cultivo.

El suelo define el espacio público de la plaza hasta las fachadas de los edificios que la acotan, conformando un plano dónde el peatón marca el rítmo y el coche se subordina.

El patrón de elementos curvos ordenan la aparición de espacios de juego y descanso, elementos que se extruyen y toman volúmen generando una topografía en la plaza, una topografía que sugiere usos.

El pavimento se conforma de piedra volcánica marrón de la isla en formato de adoquín colocado en paralelo al movimiento curvo de la nueva geometría como sugiriendo ondas, llenando el espacio entre las huellas de muros que se definen con losas de la misma piedra y de mayor tamaño.

La sombra        –

Como contrapunto al muro proponemos el espacio del sombrajo que ocupa y ordena la zona oeste de la plaza y genera una diversidad de espacios en su entorno.

La esbelta estructura se colorea del verde tradicional mientras que los paños de cubierta se plantean de tejido de lonas blancas. El conjunto tiene una expresión ligera acentuada por la presencia de textiles colgantes que se proponen para acotar espacios y se moverán con la brisa.

El espacio del sombrajo acota el jardín

El jardín            –

Un jardín de cáctus introduce la presencia de lo natural en la plaza. Con una rica variedad de especies queda definido por el espacio del sombrajo. En el jardín se sitúan bancos y entre los cáctus senderos para el paseo y disfrute del jardín.

Dos de los árboles existentes, los más frondosos, se mantienen y en su entorno se plantea la fuente.

La fuente          – El agua como elemento de juego y de apagar la sed se implementa a través de la introducción de caños con grifo, para controlar el consumo, pero introducir otro elemento de frescura en el espacio. Los caños se definen de acero pintado de verde y con gran sencillez surgen de la topografía de la plaza.

The building is beautifully located on the waterfront at Lilla Essingen.

The floor plan is designed as an assembly of four simple buildings. These are turned and aligned along the street and the promenade, creating a pentagonal and quiet courtyard whose fifth side is the opening towards the park and the view.

The building has six floors facing Primusgatan and seven floors facing the water. It has a main entrance on Primusgatan through which one reaches the house’s two stairwells, and it has two entrances on the courtyard in the lower level, one of which continues and also opens onto the promenade.

The floor plan is designed so that all rooms are connected to the outer facade, so that they receive light and have a view on several sides.

The building’s facade is thought to be built in brick. The facade’s exterior includes a series of thin vertical pilasters a brick’s width. The pilasters extend from the point where the building meets the ground through a low base up to the house’s rooftop, made with the same bricks.

The facade’s surface is slightly indented between the pilasters. The facade openings fit into the pilaster openings with a vertical proportion. The windows are withdrawn from the brick exterior, thus amplifying the effect of niches and reliefs in the facade. The balconies are built into the building’s body and completed with steel railings.

The new relax section is located on a slope between an existing courtyard and a nature area with oak trees that are a hundred years old.

The building is designed as a beautiful and tactile background, and adds a fourth façade to the existing courtyard. A wall made of stones that are intermittently stacked to create a base relief that invites the touch and creates a play of shadowsin the differing light during the day.
Above the wall there are characteristically cylinder shaped roof lanterns, and the existing tree tops of the oak trees.

In front of the spa entrance and also as a part of the courtyard’s outer circle, a new space opens up – a small courtyard that is separated by a softly shaped wall. A perforated wall with the same stacking system as the building façade, but made with holes between the stones.

In the interior three different settings are created with the help of a soft geometry with curved walls, circular courtyards around the existing trees and roof lanterns. An interior that is full of character where defined spaces are created, while at the same time giving you the feeling of a floating room, as you move along the inviting shapes and around the conserved natural spaces. The central terrace both divides and ties the building’s pool section and relax sections together. By opening up its glazed façades you get a feeling of being outside on warm summer days.

The circular shape is used to create collective rooms and integrate the existing oak trees into the building and also to lead the way in the spatial experience. Carefully chosen openings in the façade create clear views from the different rooms. Openings designed to divert your gaze allow you to admire the view from a distance. Smooth white marble floors interact with concrete surfaces, jointless tile walls and wood finishing, as well as water, glazed surfaces and nature – all under the indirect lighting from the ceilings and courtyards.

The exhibition Forests of Venice is shown in Serra dei Giardini, in the greenhouse from 1894, located between the two main venues of La Biennale di Venezia: Il Giardini and Arsenale. Seven selected architectural practices – Architects Without Borders Sweden, Arrhov Frick, Carmen Izquierdo, DinellJohansson, Horn.Uggla, In Praise of Shadows, and Urbio – explore how classical Venetian architectural and urban elements can be reinterpreted and translated into new strategies for our time, using wood as the material driving the enquiry.

The start point is a typical plan structure of the venetian palace on the “piano nobile”.

The “Sala del portego” is the principal hall of the palazzo, running the depth of the house, opened towards the facade of the canal and the facade of the inner courtyard with a portico of vertical openings often decorated with fretwork, and originally unglazed. From the “portego” you reach the living rooms along both sides. It is common until the end of the XVIII century that the use of these rooms is flexible, and adaptable with help of the furniture “mobile”, that could be arranged differently accommodating different uses in the same room.

It´s striking how today´s search for a flexible use of spaces, limited by functionalisms specificity and optimized dimensions, can find a parallel in the architecture of the venetian palace. We embrace the flexibility of the original structure and propose the transformation of the “piano nobile” of the venetian palazzo into the communitarian space of the “new Venice”. Opening a courtyard towards the sky in the middle of the plan, creates a centripetal force that changes the directionality of the two faced plan at the same time that introduces a nice gradient of light filtered through the inner gardens vegetation. In this way the sequential character of the portego is extended to the hole space, in all directions, even towards the sky.

The bidirectional character of the portego is turned cartesian, transforming the hierarchical room sequence, from the most public to the most private, into an equally public sequence in its extension. The filtering screen of the exterior is segmented and repeated within. The mysterious nature of the venetian screen becomes a part of the space itself.Deconstructing the geometry of the gothic fretwork, its symmetries, juxtaposition, repetition, … in different layers of simpler geometry; and distributing them into the regular grid of the plan, we get a delicate and slender hypostyle structure. A structure with an organic character by simply using a repeated curved element framed between verticals. An element that has a stabilizing roll within the framework, and that by repetition, and rotation, is generating an abstract representation of the forest, even more reliable than the one in the referenced original fretwork.

How are the spaces for “the collective” of tomorrow´s communities? What kind of common spaces is the future Venice offering its citizens? In the belief that sharing and creating a common culture are keys to participation, social interaction and integration in times of mass migration, we suggest a place to gather for cultural and community activities. A building that embodies communitarian identity. That could have the role of the churches in Venice once had, that of gathering the community together and generating participation, involvement and a sense of collective. In this case, a non religious building, a hybrid between a community and a cultural center, where public information takes place, as well as all kinds of community initiated cultural activities: Food, art, music, dance, theater, etc…

The construction of the cultural center is a community action , the pieces of the building are prefabricated and easy to put together. A showcase of “file to factory” wooden architecture that we can make today. The spaces that it offers evokes the spaces of Venice´s palazzo architecture, the simple plan structure of the Portego with adjacent rooms at the same time that the fretwork of the filtering screen gets translated into a hypostyle hall , a sort of abstraction of the forest . The mysterious nature of the venetian screen becomes a part of the space itself.

We propose a house with a generosity in the common areas, a house that invites to spontaneous meetings and leaves room for the citizen’s initiatives to take shape. A house with a flexibility in the design of the premises, that provides endless opportunities for creative, parallel activities and activity development. A house where everyone is welcome and where Skellefteå residents can express their imagination.

The new culture house building is situated between Kanalgatan, Järnvägsgatan, Trädgårdsgatan and Torggatan.

This large program is organized within an articulated volume that consists of several buildings assembled in one whole. A new square area “Kulture Torget / Culture Square” is built south of the Culture House, designed with a paved surface divided into two defined areas, a garden area enclosed by a sitting bench, and an ice rink that, in the summertime, can be used as a stage.

The building is designed exteriorly as an an ensemble of volumes with a clear coherent look. A crimped geometry and an exciting and distinctive roof profile give the building an integrated and clear presence in the city. At the same time, the building is adapted in scale and form to the different urban situations, so that it becomes a natural part of the city from where one meets it.

The building’s character is created by the combination of solid wood details and the facade’s geometry. The crimped geometry returns on a larger scale, in the whole volume’s shape, and in the house’s actual surface. A movement which, together with Skellefteå’s northern light, creates soft shadow effects on the house’s body and a richness and variety in its appearance.

The building’s interior is designed with a visible frame of laminated construction and cross-laminated wood panels, which are organized in a regular grid, on a general plan. Inside it are the Stage rooms and the atrium, from which stairs and elevators extend, resolving the vertical connection.

The program is organized in the building according to the two main directions available on the site. From north to south, the Hotel is placed closest to the station and the arriving visitors. Followed by the Guest Stage / Congress Hall and Västerbotten theater’s stages and foyers in the central part of the building. The library, Culture House workplaces, and art galleries are placed closest to Kanalgatan.

From west to east, a gradation from public to non-public activities is created. Along Trädgårdsgatan, an interior street is created, connecting the flow from the inner city with the flows from the railway and giving access to all the activities in the house. Loading areas, janitorial areas and staff entrances are organized along Torggatan, which allows separate internal communications inside the building.

The new Maritime museum is a building that is based on a building type: The shipyard building – a building type that is functional and historically associated with the museum’s contents.

The shipyard building consists of a composition of building naves with generous interior heights and a structure that can be used length-wise in the angle of the row’s span roof but also across through possible extensions out into the side nave. That way it creates a roomy context with clear qualities and adds relevance as a general container for the Maritime learning centre program.

The traditional structure and shape is processed through extension, shifting, bending and faceting of the volume. The shape strategy creates a dynamic and place-specific broken down building shape. Building proportions refer to the location’s building scale and dimensions, with gables that are 10 meters wide and have a maximum height of 11 meters.

The varying volume forms a number of outer rooms around it in relation to the landscape. The outer room details that have been created are intended to be used as an extension of the exhibition’s exterior, where a connection with the adjacent harbor is also created.

Like some fishes have biologically adapted their exterior to become invisible through reflection, the building’s materiality on the border of sea and land can be incorporated into the landscape through a reflective metallic skin.

The effect of the metal reflection that is strived for is to softly dissolve the volume into the landscape, as if we are referring to a water reflection, and extend the landscape’s color scheme in its facades. The building’s expression thereby changes with the daylight and seasons.

The aim is to create a wood house of massive wood that on its own or as a part of a group can become an integrated part of the natural and cultural landscape.

When we designed these contemporary model houses we chose an extended design that conveys lightness in the building volume. The houses are given a clear direction and a verticality of organization that allows the rooms to take part of the landscape and view in different ways. The volume is generous, flexible, airy and light.

Massive wood panels are rigid across and durable, while not weighing much. This allows for large spans as well as rational methods for quick assembly.

The house’s structural principles are two load-bearing side facades and stabilizing full length façade and roof elements. The large span makes it possible to create open and continuous rooms that are suitable to today’s housing, where the multifunctional and large open surface is viewed as an excellent quality.

The interior living space is organized on the ground floor around the conservatory in the entrance hall, which holds everything from kitchen plants to beautiful decorative plants and small trees. Along the side-façade the stairs go up towards the bedrooms and den. Glazed fronts facing the landscape and view open up from the family room as well as from the bedroom and den. The illustrated room division is one of several possible configurations.

On the exterior we have chosen to allow the cross-laminated wood element clearly contribute to the house’s visual effect, where the tectonically folded geometry of the facades give the building its shape. Small dislocations in the side façade between elements, and a framing of the house’s horizontal row of windows create a simple yet expressive detail.

The roof is wooden paneled in the traditional Swedish manner. A drain gutter in the roof valley is created in galvanized sheet metal and is extended out of the building as water dispensers. The wood surface of the façade is oiled and when the houses are repeated as a suite we suggest different shades in the wood’s natural color scheme.