Each the jagged profile of Norway’s mountain ranges and the gabled elevations of classic houses informed this angular housing improvement in Stavanger .
Designed by Danish studio AART architects and local company Studio Ludo, the 19,500-square-metre Waterfront venture is 1 of Europe’s largest wooden residential developments – fitting for a city with the highest concentration of wooden buildings in northern Europe.
Situated in the city’s harbourfront location, the website accommodates 128 freehold flats and a selection of communal amenities developed in a type that references Stavanger’s heritage of wooden architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries.
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“In numerous approaches, it expresses the essence of the city by refining the city’s wooden architectural tradition, while also interpreting the Norwegian landscape,” said the layout team in a statement.
The architects determined to vertically stretch sections of the facades, resulting in irregular kinds.
“It blurs the boundary in between the urban room and the dramatic Norwegian landscape by appearing as a mountain selection of wood on the edge between the city and the sea,” mentioned the staff.
The complicated was arranged as a constant sequence of spaces that extend along the angular edge of the waterfront.
Separate units are divided up by narrow gaps that reference the city’s classic winding streets. There are also a number of massive public plazas and walkways offering views out to sea.
Corners were sliced off the edges of the units to lessen their visual mass, but also to ensure that suitable surfaces are angled in direction of the sun as it passes across the sky.
Public spaces close to the periphery of the buildings include a promenade that extends along the sea-facing side of the development and continues all the way to the city centre.
“The promenade produces a clear line and a all-natural movement amongst the recreational ambiance at the waterfront and the urban and historical environment in the city centre,” stated AART architects.
Sheltered areas in between the structures residence a community square, a perform location and spaces that will be planted to turn out to be green parks.
Big concrete staircases connect the promenade with the raised square, encouraging the public to either investigate the spaces or sit and look out in direction of the sea.
Ground-floor units dealing with the promenade accommodate cafes and outlets that will even more increase the vitality of the area surrounding the accommodation.
“By marketing social interaction and piquing the pedestrian’s curiosity, the cafes and shops very carefully articulate a form of ‘moments’, which, together with the wooden facades, give the developing complex a human scale and a wealthy architectural high quality,” the architects explained.
A big communal space at 1st-floor level overlooks the public square, the promenade and the sea, providing an extra room for social gatherings.
Single-storey apartments are positioned on the reduce amounts of the buildings, with duplexes housed over. The irregular shapes of the buildings enable for a assortment of floor programs, resulting in residences of different shapes and sizes.
The growth is constructed with timber frames and cladding manufactured from a heat-handled wood harvested from Scandinavian forests.
A second phase of construction is scheduled to complete later this 12 months.
Photography is by Adam Mørk.
Task credits:
Consumer (developer): Kruse-Smith
Consumer (original contracting authority): Stavanger 2008 and NAL|NABU
Architects: AART architects, Studio Ludo
Internet site program 
Level one floor strategy 
Level four floor strategy Dezeen
