Tham & Videgård . Reppen Vilson . Kragh&Berglund
Amphitrite is a new building for Malmö University in the historic industrial and harbour environment of Universitetsholmen. As a building volume, this proposal is based on the interaction with the surrounding urban landscape: the stepped volume creates much-needed space next to the rather massive neighbouring blocks and opens up to long views from north. This supports the understanding of the local urban structure and the experience of the taller buildings south of the site, Malmö Live and Kv Blekan.
The three stepped volume connects to the different cornice levels of the neighbouring buildings and creates new connections in the cityscape along Neptunigatan and Bassängkajen. At a closer distance, the lowest plinth volume establishes a friendly, in this context relatively low, three-storey scale along the street. Here, the first terrace level also contributes to populating the urban space, as does the raised patio along Bassängkajen to the north. At the same time, the recessed volume allows for sunlight to reach the street level and thus contribute to a better micro climate around the building.
As an architectural figure, the tripartite stepped shape lends the building a recognizable character. It creates a calm and stable volume and a certain verticality resulting from the successively retracted floors. The facades are designed according to the same basic principle with stacked columns that are articulated by a cantilever beyond the horizontal beams. It produces an interplay of light and shadow and a certain lightness, that is underscored by open glazed corners. The material is recycled brick from an existing building on the site and from other projects planned for recycling in the area. A textile effect is produced where different types of brick are combined to create a lively materiality that can relate to, and correspond with, the material presence and craftmanship of Varvstaden’s historic architecture.
From the two main entrances, visitors enter directly into the building’s central space, a six-storey interior couryard that reaches through the entire ground floor. Here, a sculptural staircase and two vertical cores distribute efficient flows of people upwards in the building. The major program functions are arranged in each corner around the courtyard including a banquet hall, conference space, administration, a digital co-working studio and a bicycle parking and service hub. With two vertical cores, all floors have a flexible structure that can be adapted to different program requirements over time.
The proposal is inherently resource efficient: The building volume is compact relative to its envelope, the relief of the facade contributes through passive design that reduces direct solar radiation and protects external solar shading, the frame is executed as a hybrid of solid wood with elements of concrete, facades and some floors are made with reused brick, roofs and terraces are covered with greenery and solar energy panels, CO2 emission is further reduced by the incorporation of biochar in the foundation. The interior courtyard has the potential to contribute to energy savings by preheating supply air and acting as a climate equalising air volume that balances hot and cold seasons. Overall, the aim is to create a building that, with robust materials, reuse and conscious system choices, will be sustainable in the long term, both during production and during future management phases.
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Client: Wihlborgs Fastigheter, Malmö University and Malmö Stad.
