Scandic Lerkendal Hotel
8 oktober 2019
Project: Scandic Lerkendal Hotel, Trondheim | Norway
Architect: Voll Architekter, Trondheim | Norway
Fabricator: Alunor Metall, Oslo | Norway
Installer: Overlys, Drammen | Norway
Façade System: Riveted / Screwed to aluprofiles and wooden substructure
Year of Construction: 2013
Product: ALUCOBOND® A2 solid & metallic colours + sparkling colours
Light Grey Shine 800 + Brilliant Metallic 602 + Dark Grey 505 + Black 326 + Black Metallic 888
Photos: Matthias Herzog
KEEN INSIGHTS IN THE FAR NORTH
The significance of light has always played a major role in Scandinavian architecture. Exploiting daylight and using sleek, simple shapes and surfaces actually came about due the lack of light and materials and led to Scandinavian architecture becoming world famous. Lovers of Modernism celebrate Scandinavian architecture for its new simplicity, but in fact, it is only doing what it has done for decades: making the most of the light and space available and, most importantly, creating comfortable, functional interiors, designed with people in mind. The Scandic Lerkendal Hotel in Trondheim, built by Voll Architekter, may be “typically” Scandinavian in this regard, but its 20-storey height is not typical in Trondheim. The building silhouette is clear and simple: a tower for the hotel and a low comb-shaped block for the congress facilities. The façade, clad in silver-white patterned ALUCOBOND® composite panels, melds the volumes into a single entity with unobtrusive flair.The windows are the distinctive design feature both inside and outside the building, creating a pixelated façade. But, this is not merely art for art’s sake; that would not be very Scandinavian. The different-sized windows create a sense of comfort in the interior: channelling daylight deep into the rooms and, thanks to low-set windowsills, making the wide landscape visible even from bed. In the building’s interior, small, square windows, set at eye-level, give the massive structure a more human scale, provide a cosy feeling and increase the surface area of the insulating building envelope. What has been a standard practice in Scandinavia for many years, but only internationally accepted for about the last decade, is designing viable energy-efficient building façades. In the north, this involves creating a wise balance between light and warmth by maximising both the inflow of natural light and the surface of the insulating envelope.