Herzog & de Meuron

Gasklocka, a Tower for Norra Djurgårdsstaden . Stockholm

Herzog & de Meuron . + Oscar Properties . Stockholm & Projekt

Gasklocka is situated in Hjorthagen, an industrial area of Stockholm that seems remote from the city since it is embedded inside the Ekoparken, an unbroken area of royal parkland that is also the world's first National Urban Park. The site is largely a late 19th century industrial complex designed by the architect Ferdinand Boberg, with historical brick gasholders as well as buildings used in gas production. Raised on a hill, two additional gasholders were later built; a smaller one in 1912, joined by a taller structure in 1932.

earlier scheme:

The smaller gasholder is of cultural value, with a steel façade that blends from reddish to greenish recounting almost 100 years of gasworks history, and will be maintained and converted into a Konsthall for exhibitions. The taller 100m high gasholder, visible from many locations in Stockholm, will be transformed into a 170m residential tower providing over 500 apartments. This pair of converted buildings will be the focal points for a group of urban and public functions that will renew this former industrial site into a piece of real city as opposed to the usual developer’s project with purely commercial and mono-functional programming. Here people can meet together, visit a sculpture park, see an exhibition, or proceed to the tower’s ground floor with its public café, bar, bakery, deli, shop and children’s day-care.
The new tower sits on the position of the tall gasholder and evokes its cylindrical form, while being strategically modulated in plan to optimize access to natural light and ventilation for living spaces and to take advantage of the spectacular panoramic views of Stockholm, the park landscape and the archipelago. Each apartment is folded into a ‘V’ where one side contains bedrooms and the other living rooms, with walls and windows adapting specifically for privacy and sun orientation. Variations in room sizes, balconies and balustrades will further differentiate and describe the individual units. The result is a folding façade with slightly shifting facets that will create an iridescent image of the original gasholder tower.
Joining other tall structures that rise above the relatively flat urban fabric of Stockholm - such as the Town Hall, the Kista Science Tower, the Kaknästornet, the Dn-skrapan, the Skatteskrapan, the Folksamhuset, the Wennergrencenter, the Hötorgsskraporna and numerous churches - the Gasklocka will be a distinct landmark in the city and enhance the identity of Norra Djurgårdsstaden, a planned community mixing retail and commercial spaces with 10’000 residences.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2009

Herzog & de Meuron Team:
Partners: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Stefan Marbach
Project Architects: Thomasine Wolfensberger (Associate), Linxi Dong (Associate)
Client:
Oscar Properties, Stockholm, Sweden