A generous roof terrace connects to Högalid park levels. The greenery of the park is extended and integrated with the roof terrace, forming a visual green link between street and park levels. The building will be constructed with energy- and resource efficient building materials and its exterior characterized by large glass windows and natural solid wood.

With the subway station directly beneath the building, conditions for achieving high energy efficiency are very good: every train passage push large volumes of 18-degree air through special evacuation ventilation shafts, which then through heat exchange technique can be used for both heating and cooling. In addition, the transformer substation generates a lot of heat. The aim is to cover the building’s entire energy need.

The project will add new public activities along Hornsbruksgatan and also improve accessibility to Högalidsparken. The objective of the transformation of the area, which also includes new housing (Veidekke/Utopia arkitekter) and improvement of the park (SBK/Lola-Lovely landskap), is to contribute to an urban and vibrant street environment with several new venues. Completion is scheduled for 2015.

The project of the T&V team uses available land as well as existing and planned infrastructure to establish a new and dense urban settlement. This would allow Kiruna to escape from being a town depending so heavily on the visual reference to the mine and instead become an urban place in its own right. The proposal also corresponds precisely to the need for new and relocated building mass to secure the realization of the vision.

The re-development of Kiruna is a reconstruction project, as the Kirunavaara mine, run by LKAB, under-mines the current town center. 450 000 sqm of buildings are to be moved or demolished. In June 2010, the Kiruna council decided that the town would be moved eastwards, in the direction of Tuollavaara where an area has been chosen as the site for the competition. The existing Kiruna city center including the Town Hall, the Kiruna Church and other historical monuments as well as housing for four thousand persons is going to be moved to or replaced within the new site. The point of departure for the T&V team proposal is an analysis of the whole region and the conditions for living in the far North.

With a clear geometry and overall shape the new city center – the Citadel – orders the surrounding landscape into a series of functional spaces. A large entrance place is established on Malmvägen to the south, with direct access to the new City Hall and the church park. To the west and northwest it is linked to existing residential neighborhoods with a mix of relocated historical buildings and new housing. A continuous green belt is defined along the new E10 highway and functions as a buffer zone between city and highway, and also as an intermediary link to the wild nature and recreational areas further north.

The Citadel is connected to the surrounding residential urban and green areas with the help of a number of roads / main thoroughfares. They pass through the city center, and naturally guide the movement to and through the main public places and squares. This creates the basis for a simple orientation within the city where then smaller streets and places add depth and variety within each block.

A uniform height of three storeys (10m) is complemented by a number of higher buildings that act as vertical points of orientation and primarily holding public programmes – the cornerstones of the city: the City Hall, the Sami Parliament and the Health and Education area.

Three plazas connected to the main public functions form natural communities within the citadel; the Civic Square, the Town Square and the Culture / The Parliament’s place. In addition, the entrance square, an initial reference point on the way into the city, also offers an open platform for various activities, markets, recrea-tion, exhibits, etc.

The structure of the city core is based on the carré typology and a simple grid which, through its generality provides durability over time. The resulting network has then been modified, and given a rhythm and variation while adapting to local topography and directions. It is designed to meet the specific environmental and climatic challenges that northern latitudes represent. Shelter from strong winds and maximizing of natural daylight have been important factors.

The general and transparent quality of the grid is also well placed to deal with parking, removal of snow and other aspects that support a dense city. Through its compact layout it also constitutes a good basis for an energy efficient and sustainable new city in the North.

Description from NAL in Norwegian:
”Noen er bygget i vårt eget klima med våre klimatiske utfordringer andre i et mer vennlige varmere klima.

Kurset fokuserer på detaljer i et arkitektonisk perspektiv. Hvordan lage gode detaljer som følger konseptet? Kan lavbudsjettsarkitektur bli bra med de riktige detaljene? Hva er en god detalj? Hvilken rolle spiller klima? Om man ikke tegner preaksepterte detaljer hva er da dokumentasjonskravet?

Kurset er matnyttig og inspirerende med innlegg fra Vandkunsten, DETAIL, Tham & Videgård, Jensen og Skodvin Arkitekter, COBE med flere. Bildet viser et sommerhus Lagnö, arkitekter og foto er ved Tham & Videgård Arkitekter.”

Each building is based around a full height atrium that constitute a common social space holding the vertical communication and also functions as a buffer volume that help to create a stable interior climate. With a relatively compact footprint, building heights are adjusted to fit with neighboring streets and landscape spaces. A ten storey tower marks the entrance of the area as well as the start of the University campus.

Invited competition 2012.

The existing Kiruna city center including the Town Hall, the Kiruna Church and other historical monuments as well as housing for four thousand persons is going to be moved to or replaced within the new site. The red line indicates the area affected by the ground deformations caused by the mining that soon reach 1300m below ground.