Embassy of Sweden, Berlin
The Embassy of Sweden in Berlin is part of the Nordic Embassies, a shared diplomatic complex for Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway completed in 1999 on a triangular site beside Tiergarten. The building is organised around a four-storey birch atrium and a cast-in-place spiral staircase. Three facades define the building: a glass front behind the green copper lamellas that enclose the complex, honed white limestone from Gotland towards Finland, and polished black diabase from Emmaboda towards Norway, the stones laid in overlapping courses like slate.
Borromini in Berlin
A cast-in-place spiral staircase clad in birch rises through the four-storey atrium at the heart of the Embassy of Sweden in Berlin. Its curved form draws on Borromini’s baroque spirals and was later featured on a Swedish postage stamp.
The atrium’s walls are clad throughout in birch, continuing the material of the stair. Offices, meeting rooms and diplomatic functions are arranged around this central space at each level, creating a compact workplace organised around daylight, visibility and movement.
The embassy is one of five national buildings in the Nordic Embassies complex beside Tiergarten, a shared diplomatic site where Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway are gathered within a single architectural framework. Completed in 1999 through a project involving five clients, seven architectural practices and thirty-five contractors, the complex is held together by a copper band that wraps two sides of the triangular block.
Wingårdhs designed the Swedish embassy at the far end of the triangular site, on the same location where the Swedish and Finnish legations stood before they were destroyed during the Second World War. The project formed part of the Nordic countries’ return to Berlin following German reunification and has since become a reference for diplomatic cooperation between neighbouring nations.
The three principal facades are defined by different materials. Towards the shared embassy complex, a glass facade sits behind the green screen of copper lamellas that encloses the Nordic Embassies. Towards Finland, the building is clad in honed white limestone from Gotland. Towards Norway, the facade is finished in polished black diabase from Emmaboda, the stones laid in overlapping courses like slate. Together, the materials create a distinctly Swedish palette within the larger Nordic framework.
The Swedish embassy is also the only building within the Nordic Embassies complex allowing passers-by to see directly into the conference room. More than twenty-five years after its completion, the project remains a model for how diplomatic facilities can share infrastructure and resources while maintaining strong individual identities.
