Henning Larsen Architects will design ESS, Europe’s largest research project
01/03/2013.
Competition [Lund] Sweden
metalocus, PEDRO NAVARRO
metalocus, PEDRO NAVARRO
In the international design competition for the European Spallation Source (ESS), in Lund, Sweden the architectual team consisting of Henning Larsen Architects, COBE, and SLA has emerged victoriously. The team also includes the engineering partners Buro Happold, NNE Pharmaplan, and Transsolar. The winning proposal beat out tough competition from international design heavy hitters like Foster + Partners, BIG, HOK, or Mecanoo.
The ESS is Europe’s largest science current project. It will be the world-leading research facility for materials research and life science with neutrons. The concept was considered to show “great skill and sensitivity”, a strong campus concept, and a combination of human and dramatic scale. This team will now be assigned to develop the final design of the ESS premises.
- The flexibility, human scale and campus-like layout of the work submitted by Henning Larsen Architects will give us an excellent base for developing a functional and variable work-place suited to the scientists everyday needs. Featuring a symbolic building, it will also give dignity and (shine) to reflect the future ESS importance in the European scientific landscape, says Colin Carlile, the ESS CEO.
- I am also particularly proud over the very high quality and creative thinking that have permeated all the submitted concepts. The amount of ingenuity and beauty that have been submitted by these large number of leading firms participating in the design contest has simply been impressive, and will provide much inspiration.
The process of designing the ESS architectural design and surrounding landscaping is still in an early stage. The final architectural design will be developed in the coming year.
"The choice of an architectural partner for the design of the ESS facility is a large step. It will mean that we can start the detailed planning of the construction needed to move ahead", says Kent Hedin, Head of the ESS Conventional Facilities Division.
Short facts on the design contest:
The international design contest was conducted during the second half of 2012, and the choice of architectural partner was done in February 2013. In the contest, a large number of recognised architectural firms, and landscaping companies submitted expressions of interest. From these, five architectural consortia were selected to submit design concepts.
The members of the contest jury were selected to represent both ESS and important stakeholders:
After careful evaluation of the submitted concepts, the contest jury choose two winning concepts: the concept by Team BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and the concept by Team Henning Larsen Architects. These concepts were considered to have equally strong, but different qualities.
After development and re-working of the winning concepts, the new concepts were evaluated based on the criteria quality, cost, flexibility and functionality, aesthetic values and proposal for collaboration model with ESS AB. In this evaluation, both concepts received the same score for aesthetic values, but the concept by Team HLA received the highest score regarding aspects such as functionality, flexibility, cost, and proposed collaboration model, and was therefore selected for the continued development of the architectural and landscaping design.
COBE is a limited liability company owned by Founder and Creative Director Dan Stubbergaard. COBE is a progressive and contemporary community of architects that focuses on architecture and design – from buildings to public space, to large scale urban planning. In 2005 Dan Stubbergaard and Vanessa Miriam Carlow founded COBE. The name COBE is derived from the two cities the founders are coming from - COpenhagen and BErlin. Since its establishment, COBE has gained international recognition through the realization of beautiful and innovative projects.
Today, COBE is two separate companies - one seated in Copenhagen (COBE ApS headed by Dan Stubbergaard), and one in Berlin (COBE Berlin GmbH headed by Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow). The two offices have shared a number of projects in the past, and apart from developing projects individually, they continue to share and collaborate on selected projects - also in the future.
COBE is situated in a refurbished warehouse centrally located on the Copenhagen harbor front, and currently employs approximately 50 dedicated architects, urban planners and administrative staff of different nationalities.
COBE is run by a management team consisting of Dan Stubbergaard and a core team of Project and Administration Managers. Together, they are responsible for the company’s overall development and strategic long-term goals.
All projects are developed in project teams, made up of a mix of senior and junior architects, which are led by a Project Manager. Cross-disciplinary teamwork is central in our working method and each project team cooperates with a wide range of external experts in order to obtain the best opportunities and potential towards finding innovative solutions in each particular project.
Selected awards.-
[2012] Nykredit’s Architecture Prize. Nykredit Foundation.
MIPIM Award - Best Refurbished Building. The Library Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier.
[2011] Copenhagen Award for Architecture - Best Public Building. The Library. City of Copenhagen.
[2006] The Golden Lion. Best National Pavilion. International Venice Biennale of Architecture.