Ancora
Ancora is a 24-storey, 93-metre office tower at Masthuggskajen in central Gothenburg, planned for completion in 2030. It is one of three tall buildings rising in the immediate vicinity of Otterhall, all within walking distance of Västlänken's new Haga station and close to the Göta river. The tower has a soft, tapered form and an undulating facade, with terraces stepping up the building to open views over the river, the harbour, and central Gothenburg's rooftops. The programme combines around 19,000 square metres of office space with some sixty corporate apartments in the lower volume, accessed through a separate entrance, developed for Stena Fastigheter.
The Copper Tower
Masthuggskajen, Gothenburg 1929
Gothenburg's first skyscraper, Otterhall, rises 16 storeys above Stora Badhusgatan. At the top is a restaurant. It has large terraces in two directions and, towards the river, a boldly cantilevered balcony.
It is there that the matriarchs of the shipping houses gather to watch the launching of new ships from the city's flourishing shipyards.
In time the tower is clad in copper. Stucco does not stand up to the damp climate.
At the tower's four corners sit "Batman ears", or acroteria. They lend the silhouette its magic. Otterhall is completed in July 1929.
On Manhattan, the Chrysler Building is nearing completion. It is inaugurated the following year, 1930, and has 77 storeys. At 319 metres it is the tallest in the world.
Ancora is one of three tall buildings being erected in the immediate vicinity of Otterhall. All are within short walking distance of Västlänken's new Haga station. All lie very close to the Göta river.
Ancora is 24 storeys and 93 metres tall, and is to be completed in 2030.
Ancora is surrounded by streets on four sides. The entrance faces southwest and is clearly visible from the major traffic artery Oscarsleden and the opening of Götatunneln.
Ancora is clearly divided into three parts: a plinth, a shaft and a crown.
The plinth is fully open to the lobby, cafés and businesses. Nine-metre cast-iron columns with deep grooves, or cannelures, carry the building.
The plinth takes its character from dark natural stone at ground level, tall clear glass with unclouded transparency, and large hanging candelabras in front of the lobby. Small metal baldachins mark the various entrances. It is a building full of activity.
The shaft is a weave — like the brickwork of the Chrysler Building — of horizontal bands of dark-oxidised copper, verticals of green and brown copper alloys, and clear glass. The building's corners are rounded and recall the thirties' ideas of streamlining.
Today we choose it for three reasons. First, it reduces the wind load on the building — the structure is lighter, and so the building is more sustainable. Second, it reduces the wind speed around the building, so the surrounding streets become less windy. Third, the sun can "slip" around the building more quickly, giving more sunlight to streets and neighbours.
The shaft has several terraces.
The shaft is inspired by Shell-Haus in Berlin, completed in 1932. That is where we first find both rounded inner and outer corners on a building.
The shaft is divided into several volumes seen from different directions. The residential part also has balconies.
The crown is double-height. It follows the example of Otterhall and has a terrace towards the river, sheltered by a high-set roof with "sun holes", or oculus. Here the plinth's columns return in golden form and carry the shimmering golden roof.
Ancora is clearly influenced by the richly searching architecture that flourishes between Neoclassicism and the New Objectivity. Here is the decorative element of Art Deco, the desire for streamlining, but still with the expression of the hand.
Ancora is owned and built by the Stena Group. Within the group there is a long tradition of recycling. That is the foundation on which the choice of copper as façade material stands.
"Copper is one hundred percent recyclable!"
— Gert Wingårdh
"The handcraft that folds the parapet's copper sheet, dented here and there, against the precise curve and smoothness of the glass."
— Gert Wingårdh, architect, on his building, inspired by Otterhall, Gothenburg's first skyscraper
