A new traffic and emergency management center is planned to be built on Lindhagensgatan Street in the heart of Stockholm. It will integrate all emergency and transport services in the Swedish capital, including the fire station serving the city center. As conceived by the authorities, this will allow the services to act more clearly and in a coordinated manner in the event of any emergency, in particular, to ensure fast passage of firefighters and rescuers along city highways.
Designing a complex with a total area of 45,000 m2 in the very center of the city, the architects tried to fit a new volume into the existing environment. True, they had to make allowances for the fact that the building would be surrounded not by architectural monuments, but mainly by modern buildings made of glass and concrete, since this particular part of Stockholm has long served as a "springboard" for the placement of business complexes. Another important factor was the proximity of the Essingeleden motorway, along which transit traffic bypasses the capital's center. Having given the building the shape of a trapezoid in plan, the architects are gradually increasing the area of each next floor, thanks to which the complex has a fairly developed console. And in order to make the silhouette more original, the authors also slightly move the upper part of the building towards the motorway.
As the main facing material, a metal mesh with diamond-shaped and hexagonal cells, superimposed over the glazing, was chosen. As the architects themselves explain, the complex weaving pattern symbolizes the coordinated round-the-clock work of the center's dispatchers.
In total, 1,200 jobs will be created in the new center. Part of the first floor is planned to be allocated for socially significant functions - a restaurant, exhibition spaces, a conference hall, a cafe - and firefighters will be located next to them. The architects intend to green the flat roof of the complex and turn it into a public park, from a 50-meter height of which will open a view of the center of Stockholm.
A. M.
