Henning Larsen Architects will design ESS, Europe’s largest research project

Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design the European Spallation Source research centre. In a large international design contest, two winners were chosen: the concept by the Henning Larsen consortium, and the concept by the BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group consortium. In the end, HLA was selected to develop the final design.

Overview project. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

In the international design competition for the European Spallation Source (ESS), in Lund, Sweden the architectual team consisting of Henning Larsen Architects, COBE, and SLA has emerged victoriously. The team also includes the engineering partners Buro Happold, NNE Pharmaplan, and Transsolar. The winning proposal beat out tough competition from international design heavy hitters like Foster + Partners, BIG, HOK, or Mecanoo.

The ESS is Europe’s largest science current project. It will be the world-leading research facility for materials research and life science with neutrons. The concept was considered to show “great skill and sensitivity”, a strong campus concept, and a combination of human and dramatic scale. This team will now be assigned to develop the final design of the ESS premises.

- The flexibility, human scale and campus-like layout of the work submitted by Henning Larsen Architects will give us an excellent base for developing a functional and variable work-place suited to the scientists everyday needs. Featuring a symbolic building, it will also give dignity and (shine) to reflect the future ESS importance in the European scientific landscape, says Colin Carlile, the ESS CEO.

- I am also particularly proud over the very high quality and creative thinking that have permeated all the submitted concepts. The amount of ingenuity and beauty that have been submitted by these large number of leading firms participating in the design contest has simply been impressive, and will provide much inspiration.

The process of designing the ESS architectural design and surrounding landscaping is still in an early stage. The final architectural design will be developed in the coming year.

"The choice of an architectural partner for the design of the ESS facility is a large step. It will mean that we can start the detailed planning of the construction needed to move ahead", says Kent Hedin, Head of the ESS Conventional Facilities Division.

Short facts on the design contest:

The international design contest was conducted during the second half of 2012, and the choice of architectural partner was done in February 2013. In the contest, a large number of recognised architectural firms, and landscaping companies submitted expressions of interest. From these, five architectural consortia were selected to submit design concepts.

The members of the contest jury were selected to represent both ESS and important stakeholders:

Inga Hallén – architect SAR/MSA, Director of the Department of Cityplanning, Lund
Charlotte Lindström – Director of Public Places and Facilities Kristianstad, appointed representative of Region Skåne
BG Svensson - CEO Science Village Scandinavia (formerly Lundamark AB)
Colin Carlile - CEO ESS AB
Matti Tiirakari - Director of Administration ESS AB
Örjan Larsson - Senior Consultant ESS AB
Kent Hedin - Head of Conventional Facilities Division ESS AB

After careful evaluation of the submitted concepts, the contest jury choose two winning concepts: the concept by Team BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and the concept by Team Henning Larsen Architects. These concepts were considered to have equally strong, but different qualities.

After development and re-working of the winning concepts, the new concepts were evaluated based on the criteria quality, cost, flexibility and functionality, aesthetic values and proposal for collaboration model with ESS AB. In this evaluation, both concepts received the same score for aesthetic values, but the concept by Team HLA received the highest score regarding aspects such as functionality, flexibility, cost, and proposed collaboration model, and was therefore selected for the continued development of the architectural and landscaping design.

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Overview with path: Shows the view from Science Village Scandinavia with an open, green area between ESS and the tram station. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

Entrance plaza: a view from the entrance plaza with reception, offices and laboratories in the foreground, and the target station and instrument building with its characteristic roof in the background. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

Interior rendering. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

Exterior rendering. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

Overview of the entire site layout. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

ESS, Level Floor plan 10. Image courtesy Henning Larsen Architects.

ESS Section. Image courtesy Henning Larsen Architects.

ESS campus. Image courtesy Henning Larsen Architects.

ESS model rendering. Image courtesy Henning Larsen Architects.

Interior image of the reception and office building. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

View from outside the target and instruments building, as seen from the Odarslövsvägen. In the background, laboratories and the entrance area can be seen. Image courtesy European Spallation Source.

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More information

HENNING LARSEN ARCHITECTS

Henning Larsen Architects, was founded in 1959 an is an is an international architecture company with strong Scandinavian roots.

Henning Larsen was born in 1925 in the town of Opsund, Videbæk, in western Denmark and moved with his parents to Bregninge, Zealand, as a child. Henning Larsen graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, in 1952. He established the company after a study trip to the United States. He started out with only one architecture student among his staff. Today, Henning Larsen Architects is one of Europe’s leading architectural companies. Henning Larsen's life work counts a number of significant building works in Denmark and abroad. He was often described as a "master the light". From 1968 to 1995, he was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.

Henning Larsen received a number of awards and recognitions. Most recently, His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark's Europe Nostra Award 2013 and in 2012 what is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of art, the Praemium Imperiale. In 2001, he established the Henning Larsen Foundation with the objective of promoting and disseminating architecture in its broad sense.

Among Henning Larsen's most important works abroad, you find the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia, 1984), The Danish Embassy in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia, 1987) and Malmö City Library (Sweden, 1997). In Denmark, his most essential works include Copenhagen Business School Dalgas Have (1989), Enghøj Church (1994), Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (1996) and the Royal Danish Opera (2004).

DAN STUBBERGAARD. COBE

COBE is a limited liability company owned by Founder and Creative Director Dan Stubbergaard. COBE is a progressive and contemporary community of architects that focuses on architecture and design – from buildings to public space, to large scale urban planning. In 2005 Dan Stubbergaard and Vanessa Miriam Carlow founded COBE. The name COBE is derived from the two cities the founders are coming from - COpenhagen and BErlin. Since its establishment, COBE has gained international recognition through the realization of beautiful and innovative projects.

Today, COBE is two separate companies - one seated in Copenhagen (COBE ApS headed by Dan Stubbergaard), and one in Berlin (COBE Berlin GmbH headed by Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow). The two offices have shared a number of projects in the past, and apart from developing projects individually, they continue to share and collaborate on selected projects - also in the future.

COBE is situated in a refurbished warehouse centrally located on the Copenhagen harbor front, and currently employs approximately 50 dedicated architects, urban planners and administrative staff of different nationalities.

COBE is run by a management team consisting of Dan Stubbergaard and a core team of Project and Administration Managers. Together, they are responsible for the company’s overall development and strategic long-term goals.

All projects are developed in project teams, made up of a mix of senior and junior architects, which are led by a Project Manager. Cross-disciplinary teamwork is central in our working method and each project team cooperates with a wide range of external experts in order to obtain the best opportunities and potential towards finding innovative solutions in each particular project.

Selected awards.-

[2012] Nykredit’s Architecture Prize. Nykredit Foundation.
MIPIM Award - Best Refurbished Building. The Library Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier.
[2011] Copenhagen Award for Architecture - Best Public Building. The Library. City of Copenhagen.
[2006] The Golden Lion. Best National Pavilion. International Venice Biennale of Architecture.

Published on: March 1, 2013

Cite: "Henning Larsen Architects will design ESS, Europe’s largest research project" METALOCUS. Accessed

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