Stavanger Museum of Archeology / Lund + Slaatto Architects

Courtesy of Lund + Slaatto Architects

Lund + Slaatto Architects, in collaboration with schmidt hammer lassen architects, were recently awarded second place in the competition for the extension of the Stavanger Museum of Archeology. Though very vibrant and active, the premises of the museum are currently unsuitable and small. Therefore, the aim of the competition was to create an extension that forms the museum’s new main facade and which primarily provides space for the exhibition and education. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Courtesy of Lund + Slaatto Architects

The new exhibition building subordinates the quarter as a whole and wants to establish a coherent quarter in which the weight and mineral quality of the building character recur, the old dairy block, via the addition from the 90s and the new exhibition building. This totality is reflected in how the new and the old museum meet, the buildings gets almost sewn together and structure and design overlap. The formal treatment of the volume makes the same emphasis. The roof slabs are triangulated to form a continuous connection between the 90-century building, the new exhibition building and the old dairy building to the north-west of the site.

Courtesy of Lund + Slaatto Architects

This formal flexibility also allows a subtle adjusting of the volume in relation to other key parameters: the building is withdrawn from the introverted courtyard so that the fine scale of the courtyard is not broken, the top-floor is withdrawn to satisfy the regulation and makes the main volume less dominant in the street situation. Last but not least, the main volume is lifted towards the city to create a gesture to welcome visitors to the entrance of the museum.

Courtesy of Lund + Slaatto Architects

From the entrance you will arrive to a reception for information and ticket sales, and already here you will find yourself in the heart of the museum. From this room all exhibition space is available. By moving up in the atrium you walk through the new areas for exhibition and by moving into the building complex on ground floor through a new glass connection in the courtyard, you will come to the permanent exhibition in the old dairy block. This way of handling the functional logistics creates a straightforward and clear situation where visitors to the exhibition only pass one checkpoint while the visitors to the café, courtyard or auditorium can do so freely without solving a ticket.

Architect: Lund + Slaatto Architects, in collaboration with schmidt hammer lassen architects
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Rank: 2nd place
Subject: Museum, galleries, and public facilities
Surface: 5000 m2