Värtaterminalen receives mostly regular flights from Finland and the Baltic States. It is expected that within a year about 4 million people will use its services. Specialists of one of the oldest architectural bureaus in Scandinavia did not bother looking for a vivid image for their construction: according to their plan, it should resemble a sailing liner, and the materials used in the decoration should be sent to the warehouses and cranes that surrounded the site recently. With this idea, they won the international competition in 2010.
New transport terminal with an area of 16,000 sq. m (another 1100 sq. m is occupied by a separate customs zone) will become one of the most important objects of the Norra Djurgårdsstaden residential and business development area formed around the port, and therefore the architects considered their main task to find ways of interaction between the historic city and the port. As a result, the passenger part of the terminal is located at the top, level with the urban area, which increases its accessibility for both pedestrians and cars. And the roof has been transformed into an inviting public space with varying terrain, green spaces, nooks, benches and spectacular views of the water and the city.
The terminal itself has a free layout and panoramic glazing along the entire perimeter, blurring the boundaries between the inner and outer worlds. The space of the main waiting room is defined by an elongated skylight with a complex geometric shape. It lets natural light deep into the building and creates important vertical connections between the harbor and passenger levels.
And, as always with C. F. Møller, great attention is paid to the principles of sustainable development. The geothermal heating and cooling system of the building, the use of solar energy and heat, special resource-efficient glass, wind turbines, a green roof and other techniques and technologies make the new terminal completely independent from external energy sources and allow it to qualify for a golden certificate of environmental compliance.
