Uppsala Diamond Dome is a Combined Heat and Power Plant designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
Uppsala City invited BIG to design a biomass cogeneration plant to supplement Uppsala’s existing energy infrastructure during the peak loads in the dark and cold fall, winter, and spring. With its beautiful old town, home to the oldest university in Scandinavia and the impressive Uppsala cathedral, it required careful consideration to integrate a vast structure into the historical skyline.
Uppsala Diamond Dome deploys the science of geodesic and greenhouse architecture while creating a new hybrid of industrial and social space.
Part power plant, part community space, Uppsala Diamond Dome will turn into the cultural and social center of Uppsala in the summer, transforming back into a biomass heat and power plant for the winter, fall and spring.
Expanding on the precedent of repurposing industrial buildings for social purposes, Diamond Dome will create a new typology of hybrid space – becoming an educational and sustainable element of Uppsala’s urban infrastructure.
The plant’s geodesic design also utilizes a minimal enclosure, clear colored photovoltaics and colored glass to reveal the thermal attributes of the structure.
This is realized as a 100% transparent skin that reflects the amount of sun exposure on each facet, ranging from hot to cold.
Thermal exposure becomes architectural expression while allowing the community educational glimpses of what happens within.
Uppsala Diamond Dome will be a fully functioning combined heat and power plant that also serves as a big public space for the social and cultural life of the city in the summer.
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Project Info:
Project: Uppsala Combined Heat And Power Plant.
Year: 2014
Type: Competition
Client: Vattenfall
Collaborators: Sla Ramboll Dk+se Akt Ii Luchinger Meyer Bauingenieure Ag Spacecape
Size: 7.250 m2
Location: Uppsala
Status: Idea
Partners in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen
Project Leader/Architect: Marie Lançon
Project Manager: Jakob Sand
Team: Danai Charasti, Julia Boromissza, Tim Burwell
