Point Supreme Architects with Alexandros Gerousis Win EUROPAN 10 for Trondheim, Norway

Last week, Bustler already featured two winners of three Norwegian sites for the EUROPAN 2010 contest: Vardø and Oslo. The proposal ‘Proscenium’ by Greek studio Point Supreme Architects, in collaboration with Alex Gerousis, is the winner of the third Norwegian EUROPAN challenge, Trondheim.

From the jury statement: “For the building site at Strandveien 27, the project Proscenium proposed a permeable building with a public passage. A ramp connects the different levels of Strandveien and Jernbanegata. Inside the porous structure, the ramp gives access to a public courtyard with a small gallery, a café and a balcony for visual connection to Strandveien. All apartments are accessed via the courtyard as well. The strong contrast of the rather closed and brute outer façades, with the wooden and open inner façade, turns the courtyard into a surprising discovery at the core of the site.

The jury granted the first prize to the proposal Proscenium for their negotiation with the challenges at hand: the long narrow site, the large amount of restrictions dictated by the surrounding housing blocks, the urban connections and the extension of the cultural program. Their simple combination of a long public ramp and the inner courtyard is, in the jury’s opinion, the right approach for this site. The ramp provides access for pedestrians and cyclists, while the courtyard ends in an “urban balcony” with a view of Dora I and the surrounding harbor area. With spatial understanding, the project negotiates carefully the demands for programmatic density, public permeability and natural light for the private homes on the narrow site. It concludes with a solid proposal that offers sculptural and spatial qualities.

Connecting the existing multipurpose space to the new public program on the ground floor is a good approach, however, the jury finds the spatial connection to the program situated on the first floor (including the courtyard), to be lacking. The outer façade and the layout of the apartments should be further developed to improve the quality of the project.”

The goal for the Trondheim competition was to use the opportunity in an ongoing discussion about the future development of Trondheim’s Nyhavna district, to come up with alternative, interesting and innovative solutions for what could be seen as the key site of development of the whole city district.

Here’s a detailed project description from team Point Supreme Architects/Alexandros Gerousis:

The Masterplan suggests a series of carefully placed interventions that act as appendages to the former submarine bunker ‘Dora 1’: a drive-in cinema and open air multi-function space on the roof, a sunken plaza passing under the railway and forming the main entrance , administration and drop off building creating a second entrance, a spiral amphitheatre that doubles as market and gathering space, and extended into the harbour, a rectangular pool that doubles as an ice skating rink in the winter. These appendages define and shape the space around Dora1 and strategically expand its influence on the immediate context. To meet growing demands for housing, office space and parking, the Masterplan identifies three further sites around Dora 1 that are prime for intensified development.

Central to the project’s conception is the optimal organization of the program in response to the tacit restrictions imposed by the long, narrow geometry of the site.  Filling the site solid with development, the residential uses naturally gravitate to the boundary in search of light and the public uses consolidate at the centre of the site.  This public core is realized as void space.  This void space is a generous semi-open, public courtyard, accessed from the public passageway and is conceived as a space to for regularly hosting events, exhibitions and performances. It is intensely programmed and activated acting as a theatrical set for visual art and performances, exposing art and culture to the residents and the public. The deliberate positioning of public uses and space at the centre of the site transgresses the typical model of mixed use buildings (cultural and commercial uses at ground floor connected to the street with housing above) and embeds it in the heart of the project, forcing direct connection and relationship to all the residences of the development. 

The building respects the scale and height of the surrounding context. The three meter level change across the site is capitalized upon by a generous ramp that acts as a pedestrian and bicycle connection passageway. The apartments incorporate a variety of types with flexible arrangements and partitioning to allow for different configurations. The courtyard allows for dual orientation. Roof terraces, the public courtyard and garden area ensure that all apartments have close access to open space. The exterior of the building has a strict, sober expression whilst the permeable façade of the courtyard reveals the building interior which together with the art, confronts the passerby with an ever-changing surprise.

Project Details:
Status: Europan 10 competition 1st prize
Program: urban plan and housing building
Area: Master plan 8.5 ha, building 1,838 m2
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Collaborator: Alexandros Gerousis
Team: Konstantinos Pantazis, Marianna Rentzou, Beth Hughes, Danai Athanasopoulou
Year: 2009

Images: Point Supreme Architects/Alexandros Gerousis