Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design a new branch of one of Sweden's most important art galleries, which will form an extension of a century-old regional museum in Östersund.
Conceived by the Copenhagen-based studio as a wooden sculpture, the National Museum in Östersund will be built on the same site as the open-air Jamtli Museum – a collection of buildings that is one of the region's most popular tourist attractions.
It will function as both a regional and national art centre, functioning as an outpost of the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm.
Henning Larsen Architects was chosen ahead of 10 other firms for the project with its vision for a timber-clad building with an angular roof profile, housing a large, flexible exhibition hall.
"The new exhibition hall is designed as wooden sculpture with an easily recognisable silhouette against the sky," said Søren Øllgaard, a partner at the firm established by the late Henning Larsen.
"The roof is quite remarkable because the deep skylights filter the soft northern daylight directly into the exhibition space," he said. "This gives a very sensitive light as well as a view to the sky."
The design is intended to reference the scale and materials of the surrounding context, helping it to fit in with its historic neighbours.
Set to complete in 2018, it will also include workshops, an office and a cafe.
Henning Larsen Architects also recently won a competition to design a train station for the new Danish city of Vinge, and is also currently working on a mosque and Islamic community centre in Copenhagen.
