News: Utopia Arkitekter has unveiled plans to build a multi-faceted office block clad with shards of metal and glass beside the train station in Uppsala, Sweden (+ slideshow).
Stockholm-based Utopia Arkitekter and engineering firm Skanska won a bid to design the six-storey office building for Sweden's fourth largest city, which will also contain a station waiting room and an underground bike park.
Named The Jewel, the 11,000-square-metre structure will produce its own solar power, with the aim to become the most energy-efficient building in Sweden.
The faceted facade will be made up of triangular sections of orange-toned metal interspersed with angular windows.
These metal shards will extend from the upper storeys down through ground level glazing, giving the appearance that the building is balancing on coppery points.
"The basic architectural idea was to create a sculptural, eye-catching jewel of a building," said the architects, "a gemstone whose facets mirror different aspects of the Uppsala region."
"These irregular formations endow the facades with a beautiful, complex, varied and aesthetically well-integrated form which puts one in mind of the facets of a cut gemstone."
Each of the metal fragments will be tilted at an angle to form a sun-shield that will prevent the building from overheating – one of several energy-saving devices set to feature in the building's design. Entrances will be set back under the arches on three sides.
The ground floor will serve as a waiting area for the station with a ticket desk and bicycle repair shop, as well as a sustainability centre where the public will be able to ask for guidance on environmental issues. Five floors of offices will be located above.
The angular building will sit on a piazza patterned with triangular slabs of concrete, which will host an outdoor cafe, market and bike park. Wide zigzagging steps will lead down to the train station platform.
Indoor bike parking for up to 400 bicycles and a multi-storey car park will be located underground
The building will harvest energy from solar panels on the roof. Internal monitors will display real-time energy consumption to make tenants more aware of heating and lighting usage.
The solar panels are expected to generate a surplus energy over the course of the year. The architects anticipate the building will attain LEED Platinum status – the highest energy efficiency level awarded to buildings in Sweden.
"The Jewel will be an international showcase of how to create a beautiful, architecturally interesting building with an emphatic sustainability profile," they said.
Construction is set to commence in early 2015.
