C. F. Møller Architects has won the competition for the new Kristiansund Opera and Culture Centre in Norway. Earlier this summer, the Danish firm was awarded a shared first prize with Space Group (Norway) and Brisac Gonzalez (UK) in the competition, but now the jury has finally selected C. F. Møller Architects as winner.
The Kristiansund Opera and Culture Centre is intended to be the new cultural power center of Kristiansund, the capital of the region of Nordmøre, and a landmark to the entire region. Apart from the opera, the new cultural center of 15,400 m2 will house a ballet center, library, college center, conference rooms, a restaurant, a café, and a skybar overlooking the city by the fjord.
Integration of the city history
Kristiansund was bombed in 1940 in connection with World War II and has only few old buildings in the city centre. An important part of the competition has been to modernize and integrate two existing buildings in the new opera and culture centre, one of them the former Folkets Hus, so that the history of the city is weaved into the project.
The winning proposal, named Kulturkvartalet, makes out an entire cultural district in the city - the size making it possible to unite the two existing buildings. The light and lively facades create an ever-changing play of light and shadow.
A lively city centre
The Kristiansund Opera and Culture Centre creates a new, vibrant urban city center by connecting the opera with the pedestrian streets, squares, and a nearby park, not least the central city square Kongens plass.
The design unites the different cultural functions housed within in a creative and dynamic environment, centred round the main concert hall. A flexible interior makes it possible to reorganize according to the ideas and challenges of tomorrow.
The concert hall has been designed to offer sublime acoustics and super flexible theatre settings.
Inauguration in 2014
The other project to be awarded in the first phase of the competition was the Norwegian firm Space Group in collaboration with the London firm Brisac Gonzales. The other participants in the contest were: Snøhetta AS, Jarmund / Vigsnæs AS Architects in collaboration with Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB and a team consisting of Nordplan, 70 ° nord architecture, and Mestre Waag Arquitectes.
Kristiansund Opera & Culture Centre, which will, among others things, be inspired by the environmental standard BREEAM, is to be inaugurated in 2014.
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