A Productive Archipelago
The city of Narvik hosts one of the most important research centre for new technologies and climate studies of the all Scandinavia.
A large community of students, researchers and workers from different parts of the world lives and works in this small city mostly known as a fundamental logistic hub in Norway.
This new cultural and social structure has a strong possibility to change the layout of the town, contributing to its transition to a cultural and research centre.
As part of this process, the new technical quarter will be a key element of this trasformation, where research, cultural and public functions share the same space.
This archipelago of different architectures will be a urban place for productive activities and a new epicentre for the whole Narvik.
The design proposal keeps the heterogeneous character of the neighborhood juxtaposing new and existing architectures with new and clear hierarchies and functions.
Part of the existing buildings are replaced to improve the quality of the urban space and the connections with the surrounding.
The centrality of this site further emerges with the construction of a main public building, a simple architectonical box which arranges the outdoor spaces and allows connection between green and urban areas.
The project development is divided into three phases, a longer process that allows to redistributes the functions in the site and to facilitate the integration between citizens and new young inhabitants.
During the first stage, the offices in Sentrumsgården are moved to the new office tower while the administration office of the Culture School finds place in the OT-gården. The building on Kongensgate, free from the offices, is ready for a first temporary occupation by the student community.
At the second stage the building on Kongensgate is completed with the final layout of dwelligs a new roof top extension. The garage workshop is restored with a more specific space and ready to host new workshops for small industries, testing and prototyping.
The third and final stage ends the process with the demolition of the Technical Town Hall and the Fire Department with the construction of a new cultural hub.
Each building, as in a proper archipelago, has its own strong identity and function: a residential unit related to the streetscape of Kongensgate with an open ground floor, an office tower that visually connects the project site with Stein Rokkans Plass, a new small-industry workshop and a central building with a public arena, workshops and a museum.
The new technical quarter is a plurality of elements that exist thanks to their reciprocal autonomy, it is an ensemble of buildings that is open to the city, a flexible public frame for the whole Narvik community where cultural and productive activities are able to mix and meet.
