Spira Performing Arts Center \ Wingardh Arkitektkontor

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Ulf Celander

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Åke Eson Lindman

Spira has four different performing arts venues: a main concert hall that seats 910, a 450-seat theater, a 200-seat black box, and a 200-seat café stage. The building is situated on an artificial peninsula jutting out into Lake Munksjön, right in the center of downtown Jönköping.

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Åke Eson Lindman

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Åke Eson Lindman

The layout follows from a foyer that opens to the west and the sun as it sets over the lake, and from the four main halls strung together along the foyer. To the east lie workshops for everyday activities, and another public building will eventually be erected adjacent to Spira’s east side.

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Gert Wingårdh

The elevations are vertically striped in opaque bands of white and orange, with transparent bands of clear, orange, and yellow-tinted glass. It is the color of molten glass as it leaves the furnaces of a glassworks—a celebration of Sweden’s glassmaking region.

Spira Performing Arts Center, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor | Photo by Åke Eson Lindman

The interior is finished in warm wood, with a concert hall wrapped in wood beneath a starry night sky.

Spira Performing Arts Center - Level 2 floor plan, image courtesy Wingardh Arkitektkontor

+ Project facts

Spira performing arts center, Jönköping, Sweden
First prize in an invited competition 2007, completed 2011.

Design:
Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB through Gert Wingårdh, Jonas Edblad (design), Ingrid Gunnarsson (competition team)

Team:
Andreas Henriksson, Peter Öhman, Claes Berglöf, Viktoria Wallin, Josefine Kastberg, Foued Hajjam, Therese Ahlström, Aron Davidsson, Anna Palm, Dan Danielsson, Helena Toresson, Sara Helder, Viktor Alm, Björn Nilsson, Anna Nyborg Lafveskans, Charlotta Rosell, Jennie Stolpe, Daniel Frickeus, Fredrik Gullberg, Pål Ericksson, Ola Frödell, Robert Hendberg, Peter Sierts

Consultants:

Acoustics: Akustikon, Norconsult AB
Stage equipment: Teaterkonsult Hasselblad
Landscape: Ramböll
Structure: COWI
Electrical: WSP Systems
Lighting: WSP Ljusdesign
HVAC: Sweco Systems

Glass artist Ingegerd Råman designed the lobby’s pendant lamps “Ouattro 117” ? a reference to the many etched surfaces that diffuse its light.

Artist Milo Lavén designed the “Soundflower” – an outdoor art installation that reacts to the footsteps in its proximity by emitting light and sound.

Client: Landstingsfastigheter, Jönköping County
Type of contract: Design-and-construct contract
Contractor: PEAB
Gross area: ca 15 000 sqm
Year of construction: 2009–2011

Photographer: Ulf Celander, Åke Eson Lindman, Gert Wingårdh

+ All images and drawings courtesy Wingårdh Arkitektkontor