Norra Tornen, designed by OMA / Reinier de Graff’s wins the international Highrise Award 2020

Norra Tornen, the residential towers designed by OMA / Reinier de Graaf and commissioned by Oscar Properties, has been announced the winner of the ninth edition of the International Highrise Award (IHA).

The award was presented by Dr. Ina Hartwig, the City of Frankfurt Deputy Mayor for Culture, Dr. Matthias Danne, Deputy CEO of DekaBank, and Peter Cachola Schmal, Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in a ceremony broadcast from Paulskirche in Frankfurt.

The International Highrise Award (IHA) is organized by the city of Frankfurt together with the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) and is awarded every two years to architects and developers for buildings of minimum 100 meters in height, completed in the last two years.

Norra Tornen in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu

“For me, the award came somewhat unexpectedly since I never thought of the Norra Tornen towers as high-rise buildings. They are different from the conventional idea of a skyscraper. They are not monumental but homely, their aesthetics are informal and they rely on repetition only to produce diversity.”

Reinier de Graaf, OMA Partner in Charge of the project.

Norra Tornen was selected from 31 projects from 14 countries, nominated by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM). An international jury consisting of architects, structural engineers and real estate specialists, assessed the projects following criteria such as the overall narrative, the sculptural qualities, the structural concept, and the mix of uses.

“Norra Tornen is a refreshing entrance to the city, recalling structuralist models of brutalism from the 1960s such as the Habitat from Expo67 in Montreal, skillfully transforming them and enriching the city with a new urban dominant, with apartments for all.”

Peter Cahorla Schmal, Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM)

Norra Tornen is the result of a land allocation competition held by the City of Stockholm in 2013, won by Oscar Properties. The project was led by Reinier de Graaf, with Alex de Jong, Michel van de Kar and Roza Matveeva.

“We are incredibly happy and proud that Norra Tornen has been named the world's most innovative high-rise building! The project has received a great deal of international attention and the award is proof of many years of hard work and that it pays off to invest in innovative architecture.”

Oscar Engelberg, CEO of Oscar Properties.

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Envelope and volume. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Program. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Innovation tower apartments. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Levels 5,7,9,11,13. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Penthouse level 29 with large roof terrace. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Levels 30, 32. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Bay window and balcony. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Model. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

Concepts. Norra Tornen is Inaugurated in Stockholm by OMA / Reinier de Graaf. Image courtesy of OMA

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More information

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Architects

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OMA. Partner in Charge.- Reinier de Graaf.

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Concept team

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Associate.- Alex de Jong. Team.- Philippe Braun, Diana Cristobal, Roza Matveeva, Edward Nicholson, Peter Rieff, Carolien Schippers.

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Competition time

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Asociado.- Alex de Jong. Equipo.- Alexander Giarlis, Timur Karimullin, Vladimir Konovalov, Edward Nicholson, Victor Nyman, Vitor Oliveira, Cecilia Del Pozo, John Paul Pacelli, Peter Rieff, Carolien Schippers.

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Design Development

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Associates in charge.- Alex de Jong, Michel van de Kar.
Team: Isa Olson Ehn, Tobias Jewson, Edward Nicholson, Peter Rieff, Silvia Sandor, Lukasz Skalec, Jonathan Telkamp.

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Collaborators

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Structural Engineer.- Arup.
Mechanical Engineer.- Arup.
Façade Engineer.- Arup Façade Engineering Local Engineer: Sweco.
Fire Safety.- Tyréns AB.
Acoustics.- ACAD.
Fire Safety.- Tyréns.
Code consultants.- Tengbom.

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Client

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Oscar Properties.

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Dates

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Competition.- 2013. Groundbreaking (Innovationen).- December 2015. Groundbreaking (Helix).- December 2016. Completion (Innovationen).- December 2018. Occupancy (Innovationen).- September 2018. Completion.- 2020.

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Location

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Torsplan 8, 113 65 Stockholm, Sweden.

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Programme

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320 apartments, Retail.

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Data

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Plot Area (Helix).- 575 m²
Plot Area (Innovationen).- 660 m²
Net floor area (Helix).- 14,039 m²
Net floor area (Innovationen).- 17,787 m² Net floor area (total).- 31,826 m²
Gross floor area (Helix).- 18,820 m²
Gross floor area (Innovationen).- 23,479 m² Gross floor area (total).- 42,299 m²
Height (Helix).- 110 m (32 floors)
Height (Innovationen).- 125 m (36 floors)
Apartment types (Helix).- One-bedroom apartment.- 1. Two-bedroom apartments: 21. Three-bedroom apartments: 74. Four-bedroom apartments: 36. Five-bedroom apartments: 4. Six-bedroom apartments.- 2.
Total.- 138.
Apartment types (Innovationen).- Two-bedroom Apartments.- 65. Three-bedroom apartments.- 63. Four-bedroom apartments.- 40. Five-bedroom apartments.- 10. Six-bedroom apartments.- 2. Seven-bedroom apartments: 2.
Total.- 182.

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Materials Façade

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Colored concrete ribbed façade, brushed with an exposed multi-colored aggregate pebble mix.

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Photography

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Laurian Ghinitoiu.

Reinier de Graaf

Reinier de Graaf (1964, Schiedam) is a Dutch architect and writer. Reinier de Graaf joined OMA in 1996. He is responsible for building and masterplanning projects in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, including Holland Green in London (completed 2016), the new Timmerhuis in Rotterdam (completed 2015), G-Star Headquarters in Amsterdam (completed 2014), De Rotterdam (completed 2013), and the Norra Tornen residential towers in Stockholm. In 2002, he became director of AMO, the think tank of OMA, and produced The Image of Europe, an exhibition illustrating the history of the European Union.

He has overseen AMO’s increasing involvement in sustainability and energy planning, including Zeekracht: a strategic masterplan for the North Sea; the publication in 2010 of Roadmap 2050: A Practical Guide to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Europe with the European Climate Foundation; and The Energy Report, a global plan for 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, with the WWF.

De Graaf has worked extensively in Moscow, overseeing OMA’s proposal to design the masterplan for the Skolkovo Centre for Innovation, the ‘Russian Silicon Valley,’ and leading a consortium which proposed a development concept for the Moscow Agglomeration: an urban plan for Greater Moscow. He recently curated two exhibitions, On Hold at the British School in Rome in 2011 and Public Works: Architecture by Civil Servants (Venice Biennale, 2012; Berlin, 2013). He is the author of Four Walls and a Roof, The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession.

OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.

OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles (2020), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), WA Museum Boola Bardip (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), Casa da Música in Porto (2005), and the Seattle Central Library (2004).

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a colored "barcode" flag, combining the flags of all member states, which was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU. AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced Countryside: The Future, a research exhibited at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Public Works (2012), Cronocaos (2010), and The Gulf (2006); and for Fondazione Prada, including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its publication Elements. Other notable projects are Roadmap 2050, a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.

Published on: October 30, 2020

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