Five architects have been shortlisted to design what will be Scandinavia's tallest building. The Karlavagnstornet skyscraper is to be built in Gothenberg, Sweden, with current design brief giving it an eventual minimum height of 202 m (663 ft). The winning design will be announced on June 17.
The participants on the final design shortlist are Ian Simpson Architects, Manuelle Gautrand Architects, Skidmore Owings & Merrill (with Entasis), Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor and Zaha Hadid Architects. Each finalist will be awarded 500,000 SEK (US$75,000) and the winning design will be selected by a jury which includes members of Gothenberg's city planning department and the project's development company Serneke.
Serneke (formerly Sefa) has been working on the Karlavagnstornet project for around ten years with input from the City of Gothenburg and the River Bank Development. The site at Karlavagnsgränd Square is already developed by the company and will host fifteen blocks of residential, office, retail and service space when the project is complete.
The designs entered into the contest, which was originally organized by the Swedish Association of Architects, were submitted anonymously. They are the 214 m (703 ft) Ursa tower, the 231 m (758 ft) Svall tower, the 202.1 m (663 ft) Glasklart, the 230 m (755 ft) Polstjärnan tower and the 215 m (705 ft) Kyssen tower.
"It feels absolutely incredible to be able to present exciting and spectacular proposals such as these," said Ola Serneke, founder and CEO of Serneke Group.
Source: Serneke