Archinect - News

White Arkitekter’s Våga water tower stuns in coastal Sweden

2024-12-11T11:26:00-05:00

Våga, a new modern water tower designed by White Arkitekter has sprouted in Varberg, Sweden. The stunning concrete structure is designed to stand for hundreds of years and serve the surrounding villages with a vital connection to drinking water without ever "diminishing in beauty."

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir and Joacim Winqvist

Architects Per Hultcrantz and Agnes Orstadius explained this is meant to create a monumental spectacle. It spans 187 meters (613.5 feet) while being just 9 meters (29.5 feet) wide to take full advantage of the site’s hillside placement and loom over the landscape surrounding Träslöv.

Photo: courtesy of Anna Kristinsdóttir

Across are nine pillars, each supporting concave cast-in-place panels. The design’s shape, repeated wave motif, and looming mass on the hill’s crest create a landmark impression allowing it to be "perceived differently" from up close or the far off E6 motorway depending on your vantage point an...

‘World’s largest wooden city’ designed by Henning Larsen and White Arkitekter in Stockholm

2023-06-26T11:13:00-04:00

Plans have been unveiled for the reportedly “world’s largest urban construction project in wood” in the Swedish capital. Named Stockholm Wood City, and designed by Henning Larsen and White Arkitekter, the scheme will extend over 2.7 million square feet across several buildings.

Image credit: Atrium Ljungberg / Henning Larsen

The development will hold 7,000 office spaces and 2,000 homes through what the team calls a “vibrant urban environment with a mix of workplaces, housing, restaurants, and shops.” Spurred by the European Union’s wider European Bauhaus environmental movement, the team believes the prevalence of timber in the development will improve air quality, reduce stress, and increase productivity among users.

Image credit: Atrium Ljungberg/White Arkitekter

"This is not only an important step for us as a company but a historic milestone for Swedish innovation capability," says Annica Ånäs, CEO of the project’s developers, Atrium Ljungberg. "Stockholm Wood City manifests our fut...

White Arkitekter's new mass timber tower opens as the world's third tallest wooden building

2021-09-28T17:23:00-04:00

A new Swedish tower is pushing boundaries for mass timber design in an effort to create a “public living room” for one small city just south of the Arctic Circle.

The Sara Cultural Centre is the second tallest wooden building in any Scandinavian country and the third tallest in the world behind Voll Arkitekter’s 18-story, 280-foot Mjøstårnet near Oslo and the 276-foot HoHo Tower in Vienna.

Located in Skellefteå, the 246-foot Centre plays host to an art gallery, museum, library, and theater in a multi-volume carbon-negative building that also features welcoming amenities like a high-rise restaurant, hotel, and spa.

Image courtesy White Arkitekter

Two different construction systems were developed by White Arkitekter to complete the tower using a combination of glue-laminated columns and beams together with CLT cores, modules, shear walls that work together to distribute the shear load using as little material as possible. According to the architect, the combination of the two systems...

House of Heroes by White Arkitekter provides space for children with long term diseases

2018-04-12T16:07:00-04:00

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) is a new facility by White Arkitekter functioning as a temporary home for families with young children suffering from long term illness. The project is a collaboration between the Sweden Västerbotten healthcare council and the organization “Hjältarnas hus”, which will run the day-to-day operations of this new facility. The firm has been involved from start to finish in creating this safe and homely haven, free from white coats and difficult treatments.

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) by White Arkitekter, located in Umeå, Sweden. Image: Åke E:son Lindman.

Five out of six geographically large hospital region of northern Swede have already had relative homes linked to the larger children's clinics. Now the final region, Norrland, will get their own equivalent located in Umeå.

Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes) by White Arkitekter, located in Umeå, Sweden. Image: Åke E:son Lindman.

This home away from home is located in a newly renovated building in the h...

White Arkitekter wins “For a Resilient Rockaway” (FAR ROC) Design Competition

2013-10-23T17:45:00-04:00

Breaking news from New York City today: the team of Swedish firm White Arkitekter has won the two-phase "For a Resilient Rockaway" (FAR ROC) design competition at the Arverne East site in the Rockaways. [...] The winning team also included members from ARUP and Gensler.

Previously: For a Resilient Rockaway (FAR ROC) Design Competition Finalists