A closer look: 3XN's winning scheme for a new aquatic center in Sweden

Designing aquatic buildings is familiar ground to 3XN, who designed Northern Europe's largest aquarium, The Blue Planet, which opened in 2013. Last week, the Danish practice won the competition to design a new aquatic center proposed to be built at Tinnerbäck Lake in Linköping, Sweden. 

Starting out with over 40 entries, the jury narrowed the competition down to five finalists: 3XN, Zaha Hadid Architects, Henning Larsen Architects, Erséus Arkitekter, and Liljewall Arkitekter. One of the factors that persuaded the jury to select 3XN's proposal is for the way it “perfectly captured the scale of Linköping”.

Read on for more about the winning proposal below.

3xn's design for the aquatic center takes after its title, “Vågen” (The Wave). “We envisioned a building where the architecture gives hints of its functionality,” said 3XN founder and principal Kim Herforth Nielsen in a statement.

The exterior features a sleek, sinuous wooden facade and wave-like forms — based on the idea of waves crashing onto the shore — while large panoramic windows offers views of the adjacent lake. The massing of the building “follows the natural flow of the landscape, stepping down as it approaches the lake”, 3XN describes. The use of wood inside and outside adds a sense of warmth.

The scheme also includes an office tower at the north-eastern corner of the site, as well as a public plaza with restaurants located near the building's main entrance. The entrance will have a double-height lobby space to allow visitors to easily navigate the different functions of the building and also to oversee the four different pool areas.

With a total budget of €80 million, “Vågen” will begin construction this September. The project is currently expected to be completed in 2021.

Find project diagrams in the image gallery below.

All images courtesy of 3xn.