The Stockholm County Administrative Board has decided to take forward for the detailed plans of the Nobel Center designed by David Chipperfield Architects. The new home of Nobel Center is located on the Blasieholmen peninsula in central Stockholm - the plans will be further developed for the future Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies as well as various kinds of public meetings. 

The new home of Nobel Prize had been revealed in 2014 and The Nobel Foundation had unveiled the winning design- proposed by David Chipperfield Architects- for a building that will give the world's most prestigious prize a home for the first time in its 114-year history.

View from Hovslagargatan. May 2016. Image © David Chipperfield Architects

In 2015, David Chipperfield Architects unveiled a modified version of Nobel Center, made up of thin vertical bronze fins placed in varied densities – envelopes the building-the facade like a golden dress.

''We will now continue to plan for the public activities that will take place in the building all year round. By constructing the Nobel Center, we are creating the home of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm – an intellectual living room with broad public activities including school programmes, scientific conferences, meetings and events,'' says Lars Heikensten, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation.

Entrance along Hovslagargatan street. May 2016. Provided for single use. Image © David Chipperfield Architects

''In an era when facts are being challenged, when populism and nationalism are flourishing, the Nobel Prize has a unique opportunity to draw attention to science, knowledge, humanism and peace,'' says Lars Heikensten.

The building is situated as a ‘solitaire’ in a prominent water-edge position on the peninsula Blasieholmen in the centre of Stockholm next to the Swedish National Museum. 

Night view. May 2016. Image © David Chipperfield Architects

The new building gives the Nobel Prize a home for the first time in its history, strengthening Blasieholmen as an even more prominent cultural destination. In its position the Nobel Center creates a new south-facing public garden and together with the National Museum establishes a cultural forum.

Image © David Chipperfield Architects

The ground floor is open and freely accessible, extending the city into the building and vice versa, underlining the public nature of the building. With its flexible exhibition areas, a bookshop and a café-bar facing the garden, the entrance hall welcomes both the citizens of Stockholm and tourists to start their journeys through the Nobel World, which comprises of exhibition, education, conference and hospitality. 

A wooden model showing the Nobel Center in its surrounding. Image © Anders J Larsson

Situated on the fourth floor, the auditorium represents the architectural highlight of the building, introducing the structure that gives all floors an iterative simplicity – designed to serve as both a place for scientific conferences but also a place for hosting the future Nobel Prize Ceremonies for Sciences, Literature and Economics. 

The main restaurant and bar are situated on the top floor, establishing a unique venue that strengthens the public character of the Nobel Center.

A wooden model showing the Nobel Center in its surrounding. Image © Anders J Larsson

The building’s shape subtly accentuates the tripartite division of base, middle and top. Beyond form and figure, the façade takes up an important role through its lightness and transparency as it makes the life of the building part of the city and as such supports its public and civic nature.

A wooden model showing the Nobel Center in its surrounding. Image © Anders J Larsson

Depending on the time of the day and the activities taking place within, the building acquires a sense of dynamic openness as well as a calm solidity. 

The choice of materials for the building not only reflects the dignified noblesse of the inner city area but establishes, in a metaphorical sense, the new Nobel Center as a shining beacon of light in Stockholm, akin to the role of the Nobel Prize.

View from Nybroviken. May 2016. Image © David Chipperfield Architects

The project is expected to be completed in 2019. 

Top image: Public space south of the Nobel Center. May 2016. Image © David Chipperfield Architects

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