SPIRA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER BY WINGARDH ARKITEKTKONTOR

The building is situated on an artificial peninsula jutting out into Lake Munksjön, right in the center of downtown Jönköping.

Spira has four different performing arts venues: a main concert hall that seats 910, a 450-seat theater, a 200-seat black box, and a 200-seat café stage.

The layout follows from a foyer that opens to the west and the sun as it sets over the lake, and from the four main halls strung together along the foyer.

To the east lie workshops for everyday activities, and another public building will eventually be erected adjacent to Spira’s east side.

The elevations are vertically striped in opaque bands of white and orange, with transparent bands of clear, orange, and yellow-tinted glass.

It is the color of molten glass as it leaves the furnaces of a glassworks – a celebration of Sweden’s glassmaking region. The interior is finished in warm wood, with a concert hall wrapped in wood beneath a starry night sky in the most traditional way.

The foyer meanders along a façade that overlooks the lake. After opening big, the space is soon quelled by stairs that lead to the upper seating.

Beyond this constriction, the foyer takes on a more intimate character. The building won first prize in an invited competition in 2007, and the design was turned into reality by 2011.

Location: Jönköping, Sweden

Architects: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor

Project Team: Andreas Henriksson, Peter Öhman, Claes Berglöf, Viktoria Wallin, Josefine Kastberg, Foued Hajjam, Therese Ahlström, Aron Davidsson, Anna Palm, Dan Danielsson, Helena Toresson, Sara Helder, Viktor Alm, Björn Nilsson, Anna Nyborg Lafveskans, Charlotta Rosell, Jennie Stolpe, Daniel Frickeus, Fredrik Gullberg, Pål Ericksson, Ola Frödell, Robert Hendberg, Peter Sierts

Acoustics: Akustikon, Norconsult AB

Stage equipment: Teaterkonsult Hasselblad

Landscape: Ramböll

Structure: COWI

Electrical: WSP Systems

Lighting: WSP Ljusdesign

HVAC: Sweco Systems

Contractor: PEAB

Area: ca 15 000 sqm

Year: 2011

Client: Landstingsfastigheter

Photographs: Ulf Celander, Åke Eson Lindman, Gert Wingårdh