Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture shared with us their project ‘Flying Carpet’, a colorful carpet laid out on a central square in Örebro, Sweden. Above people have a coffee under their own mirror images. More images and architect’s description after the break.
THE SITE The cafe pavilion is placed in the Våghus square. Lines of sight from the square entrances define its shape. The building is cut so that it catch your eye when you arrive at the square while you smoothly pass it when moving around the square. The location and volume also make the most of providing the best solar conditions in the surroundings.
The broken facade creates a strong form without a backside. The many entrances and openings make the building to open up in all square directions. Its projecting roof protects those waiting for public transport from the rain near the bus stop in Rudbecksgatan . Its hole in the roof puts focus towards the nearby high rise building and creates a contact between the house, its inhabitants and the cafe guests. In winter you can see the light from the windows coming from the high-rise building.
The cafe pavilion is positioned in a way so that is in dialog with the trees in the site. The trees may grow close to the building to create a tension between architecture and nature. In summer the trees give its shade to the guests on the outdoor catering. The red concrete floor defines a space both indoors and outdoors and is meant to reinforce the square like a welcoming carpet in the public living room. The pattern and the lines on the floor and the roof reinforce the rings that form a large pattern on the square.
THE BUILDING Entrances of the building are situated so as to raise people’s flow in the square from all directions. The entrance to the mall on Köpmansgatan create a line of sight through the house to the important monument that is in the square: the old Pump House. The walls of the café are made in glass to create as strong link between indoors and outdoors as possible. In the kitchen and in the toilets, where the transparency should not be as tangible, it forms graphic patterns, a protective grid. The walls are quite thick, the white glass surface gives a light and modern feeling. These walls can be used as billboards for menus in the same way as a “white board”. The roof is a mix of acoustic panels and mirrors that form a strong graphic pattern in which the form comes from the building and its lines of sight. This creates a magical light, keeping and linking the building with its surroundings by reflecting the colors of the trees and the square, the movement of the people walking past and the pink-red concrete carpet.
FLEXIBLE FEATURES Around the cafe creates places with different qualities and solar conditions are created. In the southwest side, next to the bus stop, there is an opening like a snack bar where you can buy food on the go when you are waiting for the bus or just passing by. Going into the café to Köpmansgatan there is a bar next to the kitchen with the possibility of short spontaneous meeting. Once in the large dining room, tables for 65 people are placed. In summer, large areas of glass walls open up and the boundary between inside and outside blurs. Then the cafe and the square integrate and seats can be placed on a variety of ways. Under the trees with foliage as shade, under the roof with the reflective mirrors, between outside and inside, etc. Its movable room enables various activities: small intimate concerts, cultural events and poetry readings. The public sphere is invited.
The toilets can be accessed from both the café and the square. This is possible and in the future it is able to choose how they are achieved. Lighting studies are made, and to optimize the sunlight its shape has been cut to take advantage of the light during the dark seasons, while providing protection for the summer months.
MATERIALS The roof is covered with greenery which, with his red and green color is pursuing the circular pattern. A green roof has many advantages: it recovers the vegetation that is lost when the paved surface and the houses are built, it creates new habitats for birds, insects, butterflies, etc, it causes an insulating effect of the inner spaces and it gives a better interior climate. Stormwater flows are reduced and delayed by up to 75%. It also reduces particulate matter in the air.
External walls constructed of insulating glass. To create a good transparency as possible, they are treated with reflective coating. In some places where less transparency is desired, the windows are treated in a graphic pattern, a technique that is both cost – effective and spectacular. The floor is made of in situ concrete in the colors pink and red. Floor connects the outside and inside.
The ceiling is made of mirrors and black acoustic blanket. We have used a similar technique in Strandbadens dancing restaurant with very good acoustic performance. Walls are covered with glass and can be used as billboards for example menus in the same way as a “white board”. The bar is made of laminate with an opportunity to backlight. The furniture is upholstered in order to optimize the acoustics in the room.
ENERGY CALCULATION To provide an indication of the building’s operating costs considering heating, we have developed an estimate of its power needs. The building has a relatively compact volume and well-insulated roof and because of that it achieves very good results. Any heat source can be used provided by the air heat exchangers used in ventilation. The calculation is made of impact-needs-assessment program FEBY (Forum for energy efficient buildings). The program does not calculate the cooling requirements, or total energy use, we can perform these calculations at a later stage in the more advanced program DEROB-LU 2.0. A number of factors should lower the summer temperature: good possibilities for natural ventilation, the large roof canopy, the graphic pattern on the glass and stabilizing effect of the concrete floor.
