Concert and Congress Hall, Uppsala // Sweden
15 april
Project: Concert and Congress Hall, Uppsala // Sweden
Architect: Henning Larsen Architects // Denmark
Fabricator + Installer: Flex Fassader AB, Orebro // Sweden
Façade System: Cassette on stainless steel bolts
Year of Construction: 2007
Product: ALUCOBOND® Sunrise Silver Metallic
Photos + Drawings: Henning Larsen Architects + Adam Mork + Åke E Lindman
Incisive experience
At its best, art offers such an incisive experience that it opens upnew and different perspectives. This wonderful concert hall provesthe point: a reflective silver crystal with horizontal and vertical incisions,set right in the middle of Uppsala in Sweden by HennigLarsen in 2007. The crystal is an eight-storey cube with a total areaof 14,600 m² and prominent and recessed levels stacked one onanother. Entrance to the building and access are marked by a verticalglass crevice running the whole height of the building. Fromthe foyer, guests take a stately red and very lengthy escalator totravel up through the narrow ravine, reach different storeys and arriveat the three concert halls. In the largest hall, there is room foran entire symphony orchestra and 1,100 guests, and – what reallymakes it special – is that despite its size, it is regally positionedon the sixth floor, way above the city. A glass gallery runs aroundthe concert hall offering spectacular 360-degree bird's eye viewsof the city's rooftops. So, the crystal is not only a formal designconcept; it is a real, vivid, sensory experience featuring a deep,narrow ravine in dramatic contrast with vast, imposing spaces;visual connections between various levels via the galleries; movementand light reflecting diffusely on both the exterior façade andon interior surfaces.Slender, vertical, three-dimensional ALUCOBOND® tray panels,arranged in rows, clad both exterior and interior surfaces, andthese precisely folded, angular panels project and recede like thebuilding’s different levels. The panels’ reflectivity combined withthe break lines and angles result in light and shadows moving overall the building surfaces. The volume of the buildingmay be very striking, but its three-dimensional, chameleon-likefaçade means it blends in beautifully with its surroundings. The ALUCOBOND® Sunrise Silver Metallic exterior changes in tone,colour intensity and reflection level in daylight and in the city’sartificial lighting.This was the first, but by no means the last, three-dimensionalfaçade project for ALUCOBOND®. The façade is just as fascinatingtoday as it as it was on its first day more than 15 years ago,just like a real crystal.