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An exciting new development is underway in central Stockholm that will change the cityscape in one of the Swedish capital’s most defining sections: the Stockholm Waterfront project, incorporating a long-awaited major congress center, will emerge on Klara Sjö, overlooking the City Hall.
The concept
The congress center will have seating for up to 3,000 people and be complemented by a hotel and offices. The center will not only fulfil a need in the economic scene of Stockholm, it will also bring exciting contemporary architecture to the city. The building will be enveloped in a screen of Z-shaped stainless profiles – beams that form a casing around the curtain wall. A half-matte surface finish of the profiles will provide the right amount of reflectivity to allow night-time illumination.
Stockholm Waterfront is classified as a “green” building complex. The focus is on energy and sustainable materials. Life cycle forms an important criterion in the selection of materials.
According to the preliminary design requirements of the congress center, the façade needed to be in a material that is highly sustainable, durable and aesthetically pleasing. Stainless steel fits perfectly well into this profile: it is inherently sustainable owing to its maintenance-free longevity, it needs no coating, and it is fully recyclable. Stainless also offers architects a rich palette of design alternatives.
With their vision for the building clear and the sustainable image of stainless steel in mind, the Stockholm Waterfront architects, White Arkitekter of Stockholm, contacted Outokumpu’s Avesta Research Center in Sweden in May 2009 with a number of questions regarding the design, before they could proceed to complete their vision.
How would the profiles be affected from vibration caused by high winds? What kind of acoustic effect would the Z profile shape have? Would there be risk of damage and in what parts of the profiles? What would be the appropriate stainless material for door and window frames inside the building?
Outokumpu put together the right team of experts to provide the answers.
The solution
White Arkitekter had initially specified the standard austenitic stainless grade 1.4301 (304) for the Z-profiles. After consultation with Outokumpu about stainless grades, corrosion resistance and strength, the architects became convinced that the duplex stainless steel grade 2205 (1.4462) would be the correct choice. Such a grade is better suited to withstand the maritime weather conditions of the Stockholm Waterfront site.
With assistance from Outokumpu, the architects were able to determine the right surface finish for the profiles – 2E – to produce the desired level of reflection. They also found the correct material for the indoor surfaces, which will be grade 1.4301 with a fingerprint-resistant finish.
The results
Stefano Mangili of White Arkitekter comments on their cooperation with Outokumpu:
“As architects we have visions of what to achieve, but we need professionals to help us optimize and realize our visions. It’s not until we are a complete team of visionaries and professionals that we can achieve something spectacular, as in this case of the Stockholm Waterfront project. A lot of work was put in to finding the exact material for this complex structure. With the help of Outokumpu, we got the support we needed to realize the vision.”
Mats Segerbäck, an Outokumpu Segment Solution Manager, says that the Stockholm Waterfront project illustrates how Outokumpu can fulfill the needs of architects. “It also demonstrates how our commercial reorganization has created teams capable of giving speedy specialist advice in key segments – architecture being one such prioritized segment,” Segerbäck says. |