Danish studio ALL (Atelier LorentzenLangkilde) has completed a 12,000 m2 City Hall in the municipality of Bodø, Norway. Located just north of the polar circle, the crystalline stone-clad form of the new building unites itself with two nearby existing buildings and is organized with a circular flow around a dramatic central wooden atrium.
Existing buildings on the site are the old city hall, with a brown plaster facade, and the national bank finished with a patterned natural stone. The new building features facades that slope towards the existing buildings, creating unity between old and new. The facade is made from a brownish Jura Gelb stone, similar to that old the old city hall and with a pattern that resembles that of the national bank. The landscape around the city hall includes squares and public areas finished with the same natural stone.
Inside, the hall is lined with light ash wood, continuous from walls to ceiling. The result is a warm, Scandinavian home-like feeling, particularly within the office spaces.
The central atrium around which the offices are arranged, recalls a Piranesi drawing, with staggered balconies, setback atrium front, varied floor height and a central art piece entitled ‘Poem for the Bureaucracy’, by the artist Per Kristian Nygård.
