Sara kulturhus is a multifunctional centre with cultural facilities and an attached hotel in Skellefteå, Sweden, and one of the tallest timber structures in the world that is also carbon-negative.
There is a long tradition of timber architecture in Skellefteå, which is located just below the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. This heritage informed the approach taken by White Arkitekter’s and revealed in their proposal for the design of the premises, titled ‘Sida vid sida’ (Side-by-side).
The project won the International Award for Wood Architecture at the International Wood Construction Forum in Nancy, France, in April 2022.
Within a site covering almost 30,000 m2 of gross floor area, the building integrates a hotel within this cultural complex, breathing new life into its urban precinct.
The lower levels serve as nexus for art, performance and literary organisation such as the Västerbotten Regional Theatre, Anna Nordlander Museum, Skellefteå Konsthall Art Gallery and the city library.
The building’s transparency offers passersby a glimpse into its interiors. Spaces are designed to be flexible. Retractable walls, for instance, enable expansion and reconfiguration, thereby befitting a range of functions, from small exhibitions to large conferences.
On its upper floors, a hotel — with restaurant, spa, conference center and rooms with scenic views — accommodates the growing numbers of tourists in the city. This provides a source of revenue for the local authority.
Skellefteå is surrounded by dense boreal forests and has a long history of building with timber. The architects felt it was important to prioritise the material in the construction of the Sara Cultural Centre, while tapping into the knowledge and technical expertise of the local work force.
Two different construction systems have been adopted: one for the cultural centre and another for the hotel structure.
The high-rise tower consists of prefabricated modules in cross-laminated timber (CLT), stacked between two elevator cores and resting on a structural frame of pillars and beams that are made of glue-laminated timber (GLT).
The podium consists of a timber frame with cores and shear walls made of CLT, coupled with a GLT frame. This combination helps distribute loads, enhancing structural stability.
The trusses above the grand foyers are a hybrid of GLT and steel. This facilitates wider spans, allowing flexible, open-plan space that can host a range of events. This flexibility and adaptability ensure the building’s longevity.
The tower has a double-layer glazed facade. Between the inner layer made of high-performance triple glazing and the outer skin of glass, is an adjustable sunscreen made of GLT louvres.
The double-skin system encloses an insulating air space, enhancing the thermal performance of the building during Skellefteå’s cold winter months. A green roof offers added insulation and helps absorb noise pollution, promote biodiversity and delay rainwater run-off.
To further limit energy reliance, a hybrid aeration system provides controlled ventilation to the large foyers and theatre stages. This significantly reduces demands placed on the heating-cooling system.
The project team has integrated into the design a smart control unit with Artificial Intelligence that, over time, could regulate and predict energy consumption.
The building is connected to an urban heating and cooling smart grid that relies on hydroelectric power. It also has 1,200 m2 of solar panels and a geothermal heat pump.
The embodied emissions of the structure arise from its use of certain materials such as steel, its construction process, including fabrication and transportation to the site.
This is added to emissions due to operational energy for heating, cooling and lighting to give net emissions. This figure is offset by the carbon sequestration in the wood used in the building. The building is projected to achieve carbon negativity within fifty years, well ahead of its project lifespan of 100 years.
The project won the Bronze Award 2020-21 in Europe by the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction for its fascinating display of the potential of timber through innovative construction techniques deployed to achieve beautiful spaces in a high-rise building. Read more about the project here.
Post sponsored by Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
A Frontline project is holistic, net-zero/net-positive and integrative. It protects or regenerates a combination of social, ecological, and economic systems, aiming for a ‘greater-than-sum-of-parts’ outcome.
Under the Köppen climate classification, these are ‘D’ climate types. Continental climates are typically seen in the interior of continents — 40° to 74° latitudes in either hemisphere — characterised by drastic seasonal changes.
There is no performance metrics for this project.
Client
Skellefteå Municipality
Architect
White Arkitekter
Team
Oskar Norelius
Robert Schmitz
Structural engineering
Dipl.-Ing. Florian Kosche AS (DIFK)
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