“Liten” (small) was the name of the winning entry by the architecture firm Wingårdhs, in the competition for the additional building of Liljevalchs. The new building is lower than the surrounding one, but provide 2400 square meters of new floor space.
With the entry ”Liten”, the Wingårdh architecture firm, with Gert Wingårdh and the glass artist Ingegerd Råman, in February 2014 the architecture competition for an additional building of Liljevalchs. “A proposal that with a light and playful expression connects to the ”Ett förslag som med ett lätt och lekfullt uttryck anknyter till Liljevalchs’ popular spirit”, the jury wrote in their statement.
– I’m extremely happy with Wingårdh’s proposal. It allows us to solve a number of problems in our building – security, transports, café, shop and last but not least: now we can stay open all year round and shift from large to small exhibition, said the Director of Liljevalchs Mårten Castenfors.
Despite the modest name, the new addition gives us another 2400 square meters for exhibitions, entrance, shop and development of Café Blå Porten. Liljevalchs+, as the new building is titled, is located behind the pink building, has three flors but lower headspan than the surrounding buildings. The entrance is faced toward Falkenbergsgatan where there can be serving outdoors.
The concrete facade has 6860 embedded glass jars. Here, the jury sees a successful collaboration between artist and architecht and states that the characteristic solution holds promise for a glittering and varied colouring. Här ser juryn ett lyckat samarbete mellan konstnär och arkitekt och konstaterar att den särpräglade lösningen lovar en glittrande och varierad färgsättning. The 166 lanterns create a grid that enables many different room divisions and lightnings.
The building holds three large exhibition rooms that can be separated into smaller ones. The walls are made of plywood painted white, a practical base for the constant changing exhibition making. On the lowest floor there are rooms for seminars and smaller exhibitions.
The architecture competition was announced in March 2013 by the Real Estate Committee of Stockholm and by Architects Sweden. Five teams of architects were participating and the winner was announced on February 27 2014. Two honorary mentions were given to Petra Gipp/Ulf Nordfjell/Sune Nordgren for the entry Avtryck and for Snøhetta with Orunn Sannes/Greger Ulf Nilsson for the entry Grace.
The jury comprised Juan Copovi-Mena (chair) and Pontus Werlinder, Real Estate Department, Mårten Castenfors Liljevalchs, Karolina Keyzer City Planning Department, Pia Krenzler Transport Department, Carmen Izquierdo and Lucas Thiel appointed by Architects Sweden.