Construction start of new restuarant at Norr Mälarstrand
It has been over 80 years since a truly new building was last added along the waterfront promenade at Norr Mälarstrand. But after many years of careful deliberation and a new detailed development plan, the time has now come. The new restaurant pavilion is precisely positioned at the western corner of the projecting site below Kungsholmstorg, one that has been somewhat overlooked, yet has always carried a clear spatial potential.
The building is composed of two distinct volumes: a fully glazed room, carried by four columns, and a solid, lower service volume behind it. This division is not merely functional, it also breaks the building down in scale, lending it lightness on the sensitive site. The form of the glazed room is conceived as a "cornerstone" in the most literal sense of the word: it responds to the quay's sharp corner to the west and clarifies the geometry and qualities of the surrounding area as a whole. When the promenade along Norr Mälarstrand was laid out in the early 1940s by Holger Blom and Erik Glemme, it shaped one of Stockholm's most beloved public routes. The new building seeks to be a natural continuation of that legacy, reflecting it through its five distinct materials. The glazed room is enclosed by polished steel-and-glass elements. Columns and eaves are executed in pale Ekeberg marble, and the roof is clad in sedum framed by discreet copper detailing. The rear volume is clad in thin timber slats, with clear roots in the pavilion tradition of Swedish Functionalism. Existing cobblestone paving frames the building, tying the new work together with what already exists. In summer, the building opens on three sides. An outdoor terrace to the east and a stepped jetty to the west extend the sequence of spaces out toward Riddarfjärden. It is our hope that this pavilion will now allow the site to become what it always should have been.
