Location: Stockholm, Sweden.

Architect: Wingårdhs and Wikerstål Architects.

In 2012, Wingårdh Architects and Wikerstål Architects were commissioned to renovate the Nationalmuseum, with the aim of creating a functional museum that respected the building’s architecture and cultural historical value. The project involved reclaiming opportunities for daylight and views to the exterior, improving logistics, replacing technical systems, and making public areas more accessible. The architects worked to meet new technical and operational requirements while remaining true to the building’s inherent qualities. The building had accumulated layers of compromise over time, and the renovation was urgently needed to provide more secure and stable conditions for the art. The first challenge was to resolve logistics, with visitors and artworks moving along new circulation paths. The floor of the basement level was lowered to make room for bathrooms and a coat check, and two new staircases were added. The atriums were lit from above by vaulted glass roofs, and the faceted surfaces eliminated reverberations at floor level. The atrium floors were raised to make space for large mechanical rooms and unite the atriums with the building’s other public spaces. The restoration of the upper-level floor plan reclaimed Stüler’s intricate sequence of spaces, and the play of sunlight there became a more richly varied experience. The new climate-control system included radiant floor tubing that leads to custom-designed distributors, which are camouflaged as rosettes in the crowns of the vaulted ceilings. The renovation allowed the art to be experienced in a new way, with daylight and views to the outside enhancing visitors’ enjoyment, orientation, and experience of the art itself. The renovation of the Nationalmuseum speaks to the potential for uniting reverence, innovation, function, and craftsmanship when all interests are aligned and pulling in the same direction.

Photo credit: André Pihl, Wingårdhs, Bruno Ehrs.