Kalmar Museum of Art was opened to the public on May 10th 2008 and has been shortlisted for the Best new Cultural building at the World Architectural Festival in Barcelona 2008, the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, the Helgo Prize 2008, and was finalist for the Forum AID Award for the best architecture in the nordic countries 2008.

Kalmar has an interesting and quite radical history of building. The city boasts a renaissance castle, the Storkyrkan church by Tessin (architect of the royal castle in Stockholm), and examples of 18th, 19th and 20th century architecture. In the 18th century the whole city was moved from the castle environs to the island where the city lies today. In light of this, the old cathedral was destroyed so as not to constitute protection for enemy forces.

Situated in the City Park of the renaissance town of Kalmar, the Kalmar Museum of Art stands next to an existing restaurant pavilion dating from the 1930s, by Swedish modernist architect Sven-Ivar Lind.

The competition motto was Platform, and the conceptual idea was to create a series of open platforms for art-related activities. It also forms a structural intention for the museum, with large spans for maximum flexibility on each level, so that light and space can be transformed and adjusted in order to meet the specific needs of each exhibition.

The top floor gallery is lit by shed head light shafts, doubling its ceiling height.

The white box can open up completely on one side to bring the park inside the building.

The open stair spirals the full height of the building and starts in the new entrance lobby that connects the lake and the park. It is a top lit space with all surfaces in exposed in-situ cast concrete.

Construction is in-situ cast concrete, and large spans are achieved with post-tension slabs. Interior finishes are exposed concrete, black stained plywood doors and panels, white painted walls and ceilings, and natural ash.

Facades are rendered in a deep blue plaster. Protruding oak window boxes add a three dimensional quality to the facade, enhancing the depth and massive character of the interior.

The floors are covered in black tiles, and the walls in smooth white plaster.

A house organized as a spiralling sequence of four large rooms in four levels. These large spaces without a fixed hierarchy invite the inhabitants to organise their lives following their own preferences.

More or less mirrored in plan, the two units contain small adjustments in relation to the differences in orientation, light and views.

House K is a thin block with cut-outs for light, double-heights and a roof terrace. Using the full width of the property it separates the front yard facing East from the garden in the South-West.

The house is built as a three-dimensional puzzle, where the double-height spaces mark the dining and living rooms. The interior forms one continuous space across two levels. As a result, movement through the house is characterised by visual shortcuts, spaces and overlapping activities. The upper level leads on to a rooftop terrace with sweeping views over Djursholm.

The shallow block provides spaces that can introduce light from several directions. This is enhanced by the two double-heights that also guide views diagonally through the house. The interior is finished with white plaster, and all floors and wooden details are white ash.

Facades are stained black  plywood panels, mounted in layers on a slowly grown pine framework.

The main structure is in-situ cast concrete. This is exposed in the cantilevered entrance canopy, which is only seven centimetres thick.

Conceptual model.

The new church center stands boldly on a steep hillside above the Östensjövattnet.
The church hall rests on a plinth of stone which contains a smaller chapel, plenary hall, restaurant and administrative spaces. The plinth screens against traffic in the East and opens towards the church center and panoramic views over Oslo in the West.

Model view from the West.

Perspective view of the courtyard and entrance square.