The Hemsö Restaurant is a project by Sweco Architects and its architect Sverker Cajmatz. The restaurant has a close relationship with the memory of the place, with inclined roofs and box shapes that remind of the military buildings which tried to hide in the landscape to avoid being seen by the enemy.
Description of the project by Sweco Architects
The restaurant at the Hemsö fortress offers a dramatic view and a connection to the Cold War.
The fortress at Hemsön is one of Sweden’s largest military sites from the Cold War. The island is located next to UNESCO’s World Heritage the High Coast by the Gulf of Bothnia. The dramatic landscape and the fortress are being opened up for visitors by the governmental agency, Statens fastighetsverk. As a part of this development Sweco Architects were commissioned to design a new restaurant at the site.
One of the challenges was to come up with a design that connected the restaurant with the site’s military past. ‘A refined barracks’ was a motto in the design process. The tilted and angled roofs and the box shape were a nod to the military buildings trying to hide in the terrain. The large glass surfaces on the other hand will welcome and invite the visitors as they approach the restaurant.
The back end of the building, containing storage and kitchen, rests between the cliffs and is comprised of concrete elements. Towards the sea the building opens up and the dining area is constructed with glulam, wooden panel and large windows. The wood, a modern as well as traditional material in Sweden, returns in the interior with wooden sound absorbents in the ceiling, ash parquet and panel walls.
CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-
Architect.- Sverker Cajmatz, Sweco Architects in Sundsvall.
Client.- Statens fastighetsverk.
Landscape, construction, ventilation and sanitation, geoengineering.- Sweco.
Completed.- 2015.
Location.- Hemsön, HIgh Coast, Sweden.
