More than 650,000 bricks incorporate that waste into Solna Link, an office building designed by Wingårdhs for Skanska in Solna, north of Stockholm.

Opposite Solna station, the facade shifts through five colours that distinguish the building’s volumes. Cornices mark the floors, brick surrounds frame the windows and patterns bring detail to the entrances.

“The facade needs to work across the railway and from the pavement. Colour defines the volumes; the brickwork gives you something to discover as you approach,” says Fredrik Prytz, architect at Wingårdhs.

The five colours are produced from two clay mixtures. One contains crushed roof tiles, the other glass dust from recycling. Residues such as peanut butter make the dust unsuitable for producing new glass. Instead, it is mixed into the clay for the pale bricks.

Corners, cornices and transitions required bricks made for the building. Developing and producing the colours and shapes took more than 18 months, with Wingårdhs, Skanska, FRONT, brickmaker Zilverschoon and facade manufacturer UPB working through the details together.

“We specify what a material contains, not just its colour and shape. At Solna Link, landfill waste replaces a substantial part of the clay in bricks developed for the building,” says Love Berger-Vieweg, sustainability specialist at Wingårdhs.

The same attention to materials and space continues inside, where wellbeing guides the design. A planted atrium connects the building’s two volumes and provides a place to meet. Windows bring daylight into the offices, while terraces make space for work and breaks outside.

Solna Link is under construction.

More about the materials from FRONT:
https://www.front-materials.com/projects/solna-link-sweden/

Images: Skanska, UPB, Fredrik Prytz