Stallmästaregården
Stallmästaregården is a proposal for a new hotel wing at the historic inn beside Brunnsviken in Stockholm, whose origins date back to 1645. Developed for Nobis, the project explores how a contemporary addition can engage with a listed cultural heritage site without resorting to historical imitation. The design draws inspiration from the nearby Copper Tents in Haga Park, translating their distinctive silhouette, coloration and sense of baroque theatricality into a rational building form with a treated metal facade. The proposal accommodates hotel rooms and conference facilities while establishing a clear dialogue between the site's seventeenth-century origins and contemporary architecture.
A homage to Haga
It all started with a midsummer party for a 19-year-old. The year was 1645, Sweden was in the midst of a golden era and the young Queen Kristina took pleasure in her daily rides. Stable master Håkansson’s house was ideally situated for northbound traffic. The party was a success and the farm was converted to an inn.
That inn may be Stockholm’s longest running restaurant.
Some of the rooms have always been available for overnight use. Forty-nine rooms were added in a westerly wing in 2000 and Stallmästaregården became a proper hotel.
Stallmästaregården is a listed building.
Much of its character is from the 18th century (there are complete interiors preserved) while the bulk of construction is from the 19th century. The latest addition attempts to imitate the harmony of the 1700s.
We want to take a different route.
The authorities have changed their views and now believe that new extensions should reflect their time, but in accordance with the existing building. The area around the hotel has also changed. Towards the south and east is now a concrete bridge for freight traffic from the port. A lot of dangerous goods will be rolling up and down those tracks.
Our extension has the same outer entrance as the other hotel wing, except that the rooms are only located on the side that turns away from the railway tracks. The floorplan is entirely dependent on the track placement, and the depth of the house on the possible respectable distance. A mature tree or two is taken down (not easily argued), a valuable house is moved to its original position, a derelict 1950s pergola is demolished along with a cargo ramp.
The building height follows the surrounding two storeys with proper roof ridges. Underground is space for a new conference room.
Not far from Stallis, as it is affectionately known, are the copper tents. The knockoffs of Roman Sultans’ tents from the 18th century were built to house Gustaf III’s horse guards. They are handsomely painted in blue and yellow on untreated sheet copper that has been formed into soft tent shapes and drapings. With time, the green oxidation tends to creep up through the layers of linseed oil.
We give our wing a proper silhouette with asymmetrical cut-out arches.
The design draws inspiration from the nearby copper tents, reinterpreting their distinctive silhouette and colour palette through a contemporary sheet-metal facade. The contours of the house are strictly rational. Baroque austerity and frivolity, all at the same time.
The facade treatment builds on the shifting colours of the copper tents and their weathered appearance, creating a contemporary interpretation rather than a historical replica.
