Sara Skellefteå Cultural Center Sweden Design by White Arkitekter
A cultural venue and a state-of-the-art hotel, measuring 75 meters high and considering itself one of the tallest wooden buildings in the world, has officially opened its doors; the Sara Cultural Center a new typology for creativity in the Swedish town of Skellefteå.
A town with a rich tradition of wooden architecture, the Sara Cultural Center marks the revival of the heritage of Skellefteå, the carbon-negative building that today houses the Skellefteå Art Gallery, the Anna Nordlander Museum, the Theater Västerbotten Regional Council, the New City Library and The Wood Hotel. The latter spans 20 floors and has a restaurant, spa and breathtaking views of the city, majestically located below the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland. Directed by Arkitekter white—— the winners of an international design competition launched by the local municipality —— the Scandinavian architectural firm with “a vision that all its architecture will be carbon neutral or better by 2030” designed the Sara cultural center in using locally sourced wood from sustainable regional forests, then processed in a sawmill about 50 km from the building.
The conscious design, combined with a revolutionary energy system developed by Skellefteå Kraft and ABB, reduces the building’s energy consumption, while the solar panels on the roof produce renewable energy which, combined with the wooden structure, compensates CO2 emissions. produced by the building. The building was designed to have a lifespan of at least 100 years and will have a negative carbon footprint within 50 years.
A dynamic meeting point combining culture and entertainment with hospitality, Skellefteå’s new cultural center represents an inspired commitment to the sustainability and cultural weight of the city. A true vision of the importance of wooden buildings, this new Swedish icon offers a model for a better future. Hopefully the eyes of the world are on this little town on the Skellefte River.
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Sara Cultural Center Skellefteå Photography, Patrick Degerman / ke Eson Lindman.
