Umeå School of Architecture

Umeå School of Architecture

The School of Architecture in Umeå is the result of a great collaboration between White and Henning Larsen Architects. Together we have created a rear and inspiring working environment with a strong anchoring in the surrounding place.

The School of Architecture at the University of Umeå is the first new architect education in the country since 1964. The building has been designed to tolerate being looked at and spoken about – A proud and beautiful box filled with the foundations for a better future.

Client: Balticgruppen Design AB
Location: Umeå, Sweden
Status: Completed 2011
Area: 4 619 sqm
Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

The building is unmistakably Nordic in its stark elegance and rustic durability.

The building’s geographic position is further accentuated on the exterior by an untreated timber façade made of untreated wood. The interior is characterised by openness and a robust environment. The design with the surprise of an atrium, responds well to modern education in creative subjects.

An almost industrial impression is created by the materials and the high ceiling, creating what the architects call a ’workshop for the architects of the future’. There are innumerable meeting places, and the flow between the various departments is wide open. The interior is light and the view over the river never disappoints.

The drafting rooms are arranged along the outer edges of the building, in a rhythmic module of columns and beams, all cohering in one continuous space. The structure is rational and simple, while the building’s interior is also playful in its landscape of stairways and meeting rooms. The contrast between the privacy of the drafting rooms and the rich dynamics of the centre is clear.

Training at the new School of Architecture has an artistic foundation, with an active, intimate interplay with its creative neighbours  as well as the surrounding community.

Contact & Team

Lennart Sjögren

Lennart Sjögren

Architect

+46 706 50 25 05

Marianne Rutberg

Gustav Jarlöv

Albin Holmgren

Olov Bergström

Roland Lundberg

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