Landsbankinn wanted to reflect its openness to the outside world in the architecture of its headquarters in Reykjavik. Therefore, in this “everyday attraction,” as the authors called it, most of the public functions will be lined up along the façade on the ground floor, creating a lively pedestrian street along it, leading to the Harpa Concert Hall. The same functions will be connected by the inner corridor, which also allows a passer-by to shorten his way through the city.
For the facades of the building, glass and basalt were chosen, reminiscent of the nature of Iceland with its characteristic layered rocks. The same rocks are the inspiration for the concrete terraces in the atriums of the building. The harshness of these materials is offset by the abundance of sunlight and wooden surfaces. The building is made up of four volumes, two higher with the aforementioned atriums, sources of natural light, and two lower ones, with glazed facades and a connection to external terraces and gardens. The layout is subordinated to the main value - adaptability, which allows any reorganization in the future.
