Örnsköldsvik's new [proposed] hotel is a love-hate affair

2011-04-18T15:20:01-04:00

Thomas Sandell's, of Sandell Sandberg, design for a new hotel in Örnsköldsvik's port has created quite a stir in an otherwise off-the-radar Swedish city of Örnsköldsvik, population 28,617. The hotel, commisioned by Elite Hotels, has such a stark design that it triggered a very public crit via the Örnsköldsvik Allehanda. Architects Per-Eddie Bjuggstam, Kjell Arne Mattsson and E Wistedte agreed that the building should be thinner, taller and less garish in color choice. The general public has likened the project to a pack of cigarettes and a nuclear power plant.

Kent Forsberg, of hockey fame, said, "No, it's not at all clear, there will be a lot happening yet." Forsberg, who owns local development company Forspro, is a major stakeholder in the project. Paraphrased in Örnsköldsvik Allehanda, "[Forsberg] thinks the hotel project should not be discussed in the media, but he welcomes views on the subject."

On the Örnsköldsvik Allehanda website, this single project has generated a doze...

Snøhetta and Zeidler come to Ryerson

2011-04-13T01:01:55-04:00

"The Student Learning Centre will provide bright, open, technologically rich, barrier-free spaces for individual and collaborative study that will accommodate our students' different learning styles and our faculties' different teaching practices..."

The 155,463 sq. ft. Student Learning Center will feature a facade system that passively adjusts natural light levels and a roof that's at least 50% green. In addition, the school hopes to attain LEED Silver status. Expected to be completed by 2014, the center is designed for everyone in mind-- from the Chatty Cathy to the Somber Simone. To top it all off, the center boosts a bridge to the library and an elevated plaza along with retail at- and below-grade.

"While it remains important to find places of introspection, it is also vitally important to create places where people can more actively seek knowledge, where social connections can intertwine and where all forms of activity, quiet and loud, can find a suitable home. The design of the Student Learning Centre is foremost about providing these new and diverse functions." —Craig Dykers, principal architect and co-founder, Snøhetta

No word yet on budget or costs but Ontario had set aside $45,000,000 in 2008. Construction is expec...

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Örnsköldsvik's new [proposed] hotel is a love-hate affair

Snøhetta and Zeidler come to Ryerson