Scandinavian company Schmidt Hammer Lassen has completed a canal-side cultural complex in Malmö, Sweden, featuring a 1,600-seat concert hall, a conference centre and a trio of hotel towers .
Located on Universitetsholmen, an island to the north-east of Malmö’s centre, the Malmö Reside complicated covers 54,000-square-metres.
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects planned the layout of the complex close to the notion of a “small city”. Even though all of the services form a single building, they seem as a cluster of various types.
“We have broken the developing mass down into smaller sized entities that interact with the context,” explained architect and senior companion Kristian Ahlmark.”The clearly defined volumes also develop a hierarchy in the way in which the constructing is perceived.”
Every single block is both square or rectangular in program, but they all have diverse heights and orientations, intended to match up with existing buildings in the vicinity.
The concert hall sits at the western end of the site, while the congress centre sits in the middle and the four blocks that make up the hotel run along the eastern boundary.
Glazed tiles were applied to the facades of all three facilities, but the colouring varies between white, gold and reddish brown. Windows also match, though they fluctuate in scale and proportion.
Associated story: White concrete cultural centre by DRDH nestles up towards a Norwegian harbour
“The thought was to generate a ‘house of the city’ incorporating the architectonic expressions of Malmö to build a developing that will contribute to present urban life,” explained Ahlmark. “The context inspired our decision of supplies and colors as well as the different sizes of the building’s areas, yet the creating style itself points to the potential.”
A section of glazing along the northern facade marks Malmö Live’s primary entrance, whilst the hotel has a separate entrance alongside. Site visitors can also enter by means of numerous doors along the southern facade, which lines up with the canal promenade.
“Qualitative and differentiated spaces are produced around the building in conjunction with the surrounding buildings,” added Ahlmark.
“These spaces contain a common area for skating or viewing football on a big screen, a green park path, a new promenade along the canal to the south and two large wooden decks that connect the water and the developing,” he mentioned.
The building’s internal layout draws influence from medieval cities and their mix of narrow streets and generous plazas. This is most prevalent in the entrance lobby, the place more substantial gathering places are interspersed with smaller sized recesses.
Not like the exterior, a mixture of supplies was utilised for the interior spaces, including rough black concrete, stone, wood and brass.
This palette alterations in the concert hall, which is finished in oak and brass. In accordance to Ahlmark, the aim was to achieve “an totally world-class sound and a area with a musicality that works with the music, like sitting within an instrument”.
“The consequence is a composition of cubic factors,” he explained. “Every surface has a perform, angle and size that supports the acoustics. Light is integrated into the walls so the mood can be altered dependent on what is getting performed in the hall.”
The concert and congress structures are the two 5 storeys high. The hotel elements are substantially taller, with the largest containing 25 storeys.
There are a total of 444 rooms within three of the blocks, along with a spa, a health club, two restaurants, a cafe and a leading-floor bar. The fourth block includes the lobby.
The very first sections of Malmö Live opened to the public on 2 May possibly, whilst the concert hall will open in August. Building is also underway on 27,000 square metres of housing and offices, which type part of the identical growth.
Photography is by Adam Mørk.
Task credits:
Clients: City of Malmö, Skanska Sverige
Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Landscape architect: SLA
Contractor: Skanska Sverige
Other collaborators: Akustikon
Website prepare 
Ground floor plan 
Very first floor strategy 
Second floor strategy 
Third floor strategy 
Part one particular 
Segment two 
Area 3 Dezeen
