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Offener Wettbewerb | 06/2016

Sara Cultural Center in Skellefteå (SE)

1. Preis

Preisgeld: 500.000 SEK

White Arkitekter

Architektur

KRAGH&BERGLUND Landscape Architects

Landschaftsarchitektur

DIFK

Tragwerksplanung

Erläuterungstext

International competition winner Skellefteå Cultural Centre and hotel is a beautiful venue open for everyone. The design, a contemporary and timeless quality, pays homage to the local timber heritage and will be the tallest buidling using wood frame construction techniques in the world.

Located just below the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, the city of Skellefteå has a long tradition of timber architecture that inspired our design for the creation of a new home for the arts, stage performances and literature. Chosen over 55 entries from ten countries, our winning proposal “Sida vid sida” (i.e. ”Side-by-side”) is a wood framed high-rise with a completion date in 2019. “Västerbottensteatern” (the county theatre of Västerbotten), the Anna Nordlander Museum, Skellefteå’s art gallery (“Konsthall”), the City Library and a new hotel comprise the programme.

The region’s forest industry and construction know-how play an important role in the project, but the recent developments in engineered timber technology allow for the spectacular possibilities not previously available. Collaboration with the Norwegian structural engineers, Florian Kosche, led to the development of two different hybrid construction systems – one for the cultural centre and one for its sister structure, the hotel.

Construction of the cultural centre is composed of a stack of prefabricated timber modules reinforced by concrete slabs. A hybrid of glue-laminated timber and steel construction will allow for a flexible, open-plan space, able to host all of the different facilities. The venue has other design elements which continue the theme of flexibility of use, such as retractable walls for rooms to be expanded or divided so as to better serve the function at hand – from an exhibition to a large congress.

A cultural centre in Skellefteå just has to be built with wood! We’re paying homage to the region’s rich tradition and we’re hoping to collaborate with the local timber industry. Together we will create a beautiful venue, open for everyone, which will both have a contemporary expression and age with grace. – Oskar Norelius, Lead Architect at White

The glass façade wrapping the building will reflect the sky and, at the same time, reveal the interior’s spectacular exposed wood-framed ceiling, which is an important detail guiding visitors throughout the venue. The centre is designed to endure all weathers with an efficient energy consumption record and will have a green roof, contributing to thermal insulation, noise blocking, biodiversity and rain water absorption.

The hotel tower comprises a stack of prefabricated timber modules reinforced by concrete slabs, providing the building a high-rise status while the structural glazing provides the hotel rooms views that will stretch for miles

We want to attract visitors not only for the arts but also to witness the behind-the-scenes work. People passing by will be able to see, from the streets, how a new exhibition is being built or how a stage set is coming along. – Robert Schmitz, Lead Architect at White

With a stage located in the middle of the cultural centre and with different functions visible from the outside, the centre will breathe new life into the city. The ground floor will be open with several entrances as a way to contribute to a dynamic city centre.

The winning proposal foresees bicycle and pedestrian ways connecting different areas of Skellefteå to the new travel centre. On the waters of the Skellefte River (which passes through the city), a stage is proposed as a satellite scene to the cultural centre.

Beurteilung durch das Preisgericht

The building is elegant and appealing, an assembly of simple volumes, combining the different parts of the competition brief into one entity where all activities get a strong identity side by side, at the same time as they are challenged to new collaborations through the common flexible space for joint use.

The hotel is well integrated in the center of the block as a volume of its own, creating a positive assembling force in the building.

The building is made accessible and flexible for all by the two ground floors with two direct entrances, one from the north and one from the south, as a result, no ramps or tilting floors obstruct. In the entrance foyer in the south, a huge inviting stair “Cultural staircase” creates a central meeting point for all generations. The building expresses a local
character through the wood which gives the building identity. The proposal projects an innovative wood ambition which creates an elegant contribution to contemporary wooden architecture. The wooden construction with supplementary iron pulling, visible
through transparent glass façade, makes the wooden structure even more present. The building projects an explicit and slick expression and will be simple to operate and maintain. At the same time through the expressing of accessibility and a readable construction a “workshop for culture”- a place for meetings and production in the heart of the city.