Gyldengården

Located in Kristiansand’s quadrant from the 17^th century, this new public health institution presents itself to the city and the public with three interchanging facades. The open idiom harmonizes and relates individually to the surrounding streets, squares, and parks.

Gyldengården embodies Skippergata’s calm pace and small scale through a rhythmic variation of façade materials and spaces. Towards the northeast, the building’s highest façade meets the dynamic street Festningegatan where pedestrians are welcomed by the transparency of the façade which expresses the human scale of the urban space. The interior atrium is visible via the main entrance to Gyldengården where dialogue takes place with the green Wergelandsparken which is home to the city square and the church.

All facades are dressed in Wratza-limestone, clearly referencing the Nordic architectural tradition. Limestone provides the building with the necessary weight in the urban space, and with its warm color, creates a pleasant link to Kristiansand’s building tradition of light hues.

The many windows disintegrate the facades’ perspective effect with their vertical dimensions and thus create rhythm in an otherwise static image.