Civic pride
Civic pride
LUND (SE) - Town halls are becoming increasingly sustainable. Whereas once upon a time such civic buildings were required to be representative and monumental, nowadays a growing number of city authorities are asking architects to design a building that conveys democratic openness and environmental awareness. Celebrated examples of such modern town halls are Foster and Partners' London City Hall (2003) and OMA's design for the new Rotterdam town hall, which was presented at the end of 2009 (completion is scheduled for 2014).
The winning design in the competition for a new city council building in Lund, Sweden, fits into the succession of glass-walled town halls organized around a huge atrium. 'Transparency, staff/visitor synergy, innovation and sustainability are the key ambitions behind the project,' according to Christensen & Co Architects, a young Copenhagen firm that has been working on energy-efficient architecture for some time now. They recently delivered Denmark's first carbon-neutral public building, the Green Lighthouse at the University of Copenhagen, and are currently working on the first energy-producing day care centre in Denmark.
Their city hall is not entirely energy neutral, but they promise that it 'will only use a fraction of the energy normally consumed by a building of this type'. Their environmental strategy for the building encompasses sustainably produced materials, a sophisticated energy management system based on natural ventilation, solar energy, ground water cooling and a grass roof. Which means that Lund will soon boast the 'greenest' city hall in Sweden. (Kirsten Hannema)
Ecocentric, Glass |
Sweden
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