The Ship / Strombro Building Workshop

Architects: Strombro Building Workshop
Location: Åkersberga, Sweden
Lead Architect: Daniel Fagerberg
Area: 696.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Mikael Olsson

Team Architecture/Engineering: Nils Sandström, Mariel Benedetto, Gavin Sanotti, Aaron Tsang
Structural Engineer: Strombro Building Workshop, Holzpak -Ermanno Ancler
Mep: Strombro Building Workshop, IMEK
Contractor: Propio
Sub Contractor: HTCC
Client: Propio
Budget: €1’625’000 (€2325/m2) inc.VAT

Background
Autumn 2014 and Nils had just taken employment with us. The Ship was our first design exercise together, and to find common ground we went for a no phone all day café break. It didn’t take more than 15 minutes to find our shared craze around 80’s – 90’s sci-fi aesthetics. There had been a prolonged yearning to develop this to an actual building. With such a progressive client as Propio, this dream was about to be fulfilled. In the analysis of aesthetical preference (aka examination of gut feeling) I found a memory of the first moving image I managed to download; Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, Trailer #2. In the opening scene four hostile Armoured Assault Tanks, descends the grassy hills of the planet Naboo to annihilate the Gungans. The sloping site divided in four properties inevitably proposed a paraphrase. Defining the structure, we found the rounded stiff frame corners of Kubrik’s space station ribcage. This formed the hollow core from which we could stabilize the envelope and at the same time hold the service module of the Ship. Further in search for experiences, -using the kitchen bench as the dashboard and applying the compulsory step down to define the obvious living room command bridge.

With a command bridge in place and the distinct north to south direction (dark to light) we invited the realtors no.1 sales argument with an oversized window to a magnificent view. Without being defined in our sci-fi design strategy, standing in the living room celebrating the last CLT panel being laid in place, the sky opened with a snow storm. Through the snow flakes In the backlight of the crane, sitting on the command bridge step we were warp speeding in to a designer’s dream team.

Material
Strombro have after 15 years of R&D chosen to work solely with CLT (Cross Laminated Timber). In this project we combine the frame with stucco on hard wood fibre insulation. The permeability of the build-ups of walls, floors and roof “breathe” as it both binds and release moisture. This ensures a healthy indoor climate free of toxins, free particles and swirling dust.

Program
A mixture of building code and the 70’s suburban sprawl inspired the hair saloon, modiste, or psychologists home office directly to the right when entering. Upon visiting always allowing a peak in to the private. Ever intriguing. The staircase slice explores the structural capability of CLT as a 6meter 100mm thick panel carries the vertical loads and the stiff frame core holds the lateral stability. Up and down the staircase you’ll experience the stratigraphic layering of chronologically defined content. We start with the sunrise espresso terrace outside the souterrain pool room, up through the daytime living area and the enclosed sleeping quarters, and topping it off with a 24/7 disco roof top garden.