Boxen

From the June 2019 Issue of ARCHITECT:

A steel-and-wood pavilion forms an intimate gallery space within a larger exhibition hall.

The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, commonly known as ArkDes, is located in a 19th century structure built for the Swedish military on an island in the center of Stockholm. Its two cavernous halls offer a wondrous space for large-scale architecture and design installations, but they are less than ideal for smaller exhibits showcasing emerging designers. So in the fall of 2017, the center launched a competition in search of a solution.

Local firm Dehlin Brattgård Arkitekter’s winning design is called Boxen, and, as its name implies, it is a cuboid structure set inside one of the main galleries, within which ArkDes can mount more-intimate exhibits. Built with a tight schedule and budget, Boxen is made of steel, painted birch plywood, and wire mesh, with a gently sloping ramp that rises around the outside. A circular window allows views into the space from the larger exhibition hall around it.

Central to the design is a desire to build connections between Boxen, its contents, and the rest of the gallery, says principal Johan Dehlin. As visitors ascend the ramp, they get a different perspective on the exhibits in the larger hall; the ramp and windows also put them on display. “We thought it would be interesting if the visitors themselves could become part of the exhibition space somehow,” says Johannes Brattgård, the firm’s other principal.

Boxen only looks simple: In fact, Dehlin and Brattgård say that the design and construction process was constrained by a long list of regulations and surprises. For starters, the main ArkDes halls are protected historic structures, and so whatever was built had to be minimally invasive and leave no permanent mark. This pushed them toward using lightweight materials to build an unassuming structure—aside from a few lights, there are no mechanical or electrical elements. “It became an opportunity to make a building without all the complexities of the utilities,” Dehlin says. “It’s just the structure and the function.”

From the start, the architects knew they wanted to include an elevated viewing area, but accessibility requirements prevented them from relying solely on a staircase—hence the ramp (a pair of staircases, required by fire code, offer an alternative route). But as Boxen took shape within the hall, they found yet another challenge: The floors could not support the structure’s point loads. Dehlin and Brattgård worked closely with a steel fabricator to build what amounts to a bridgelike structure that focuses the loads atop concrete foundations under the existing floor.

“It was technically quite challenging, but for that reason it was quite fun for us,” Dehlin says. “And it got much better as we worked through those challenges.”

Project Credits
Project: Boxen, Stockholm
Client: ArkDes (Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design)
Architect: Dehlin Brattgård Arkitekter, Stockholm . Johan Dehlin, Johannes Brattgård (lead architects)
Structural Engineer: DIFK
Project Manager: Erik Törnqvist
Steel Construction: Promostal
Contractor: Eckerud EQT
Size: 156 square meters (1,679 square feet)
Cost: 2.1 million Swedish Krona ($217,906)