Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Kristiansand, Nor
Like a huge wave, the inclined, free-form surface on the entrance side of the Kilden Performing Arts Centre towers above the heads of the visitors. Located directly on the seashore in the former industrial port of the southern Norwegian city of Kristiansand, the cultural magnet is intended to revive the old wasteland. In 2005, the architectural firm ALA Architects from Helsinki emerged as the winner of an architectural competition. In cooperation with the local office SMS Arkitekter, the most important cultural building project in Norway was completed by January 2012.
The building houses three independent cultural institutions: the Agder Regional Theater, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and the regional opera ensemble Sør. In total, the new building has 2270 seats, which are spread over four halls lined up next to each other – a concert hall, a theatre and opera hall, a multi-purpose hall and a studio stage for contemporary theatre. The respective undersides of the cantilevered spectator stands, all of which are located on the sea side of the building, form the functional basis for the curved façade surface. While three sides of the otherwise restrained, black box-like building have black aluminum facades, the entrance side welcomes visitors with a grand gesture: the glass façade facing the sea is one hundred meters long.
Project data
Architect
ALA Architects, Helsinki, FIN
SMS Arkitekter, Kristiansand, NOR
Client
Teater og Konserthus for Sørlandet IKS, Kristiansand, NOR
Products
usedGEWE-therm® sun
Glass supplier
Schollglas Sachsen GmbH, Nossen
Architectural highlights and historical echoes
A gigantic, column-free steel construction supports the spectator stands on the upper side. The stage soffits are clad in an irregular wave shape with warm-looking, solid oak planks – a reminiscence of the history of the city, which had become prosperous in the 17th century due to the export of oak wood as a building material for sailing ships.
“The monumental, abstract form of the wall made of local oak wood separates fantasy from reality,” the architects explain. “When the audience enters the building, they move from a natural landscape into the realm of the performing arts.” Special areas are the foyer and entrance: in front of the event halls, they are located under the curve of the wooden roof, separated from the outside space only by a wafer-thin glass skin. This literally cuts into the wavy roof in a dead straight line. Only the corners to the side ends are gently rounded. With a width of three meters each and a height of about two meters, the glass elements fit parallel to the seashore in a restrained and elegant steel construction. At the top, model panes close off the façade to the undulating ceiling.
Successful use of materials – inside and outside
More than 300 square metres of GEWE-therm® sun solar control glass from SCHOLLGLAS form a permeable transition between interior and exterior. Heating or cooling down of the rooms via the large glass surface is prevented by its special coating, which offers optimal sun, UV and glare protection. In addition, the toughenable, insensitive sun protection coating allows around 62 percent of the light into the building’s interior. During the day, the subtly structured glass construction transforms from the outside into a surface that reflects its surroundings. This does not impair the transparency of the glass from the inside to the outside. With a total energy transfer of 33 percent, the glass façade with its favourable sun protection properties ensures a pleasant indoor climate. The Ug value of 1.0 W/m²K underlines the good thermal insulation qualities of this new generation of contemporary solar control glass.
Thanks to the successful use of materials, a flowing transition between inside and outside has been created, which not only positively supports the architects’ idea. The glass from SCHOLLGLAS also takes into account the modern requirements for an energy-efficient building envelope.
