Nodi
Architect: White Arkitekter
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Type: Office
Year: 2021
Photographs: courtesy of White Arkitekter
Along Hovås allé, in the middle of one of Gothenburg’s newest districts, stands the spectacular wooden building Nodi. The name means hub, and that is exactly what Nodi is – a focal point in the Nya Hovås district and one of the architectural landmarks that welcomes visitors to the area. Nodi has five spectacular floors that grow in size with each floor, with an authentic wooden feeling from the inside out.
The following description is courtesy of the architects. At the beginning of 2019, Next Step Group commissioned us to design one of the landmarks of Nya Hovås. Four floors of office space, on top of an entrance level for shops and city life. The planned development around Route 158 makes Nodi the hub of the area, with a mixed-use city of housing, shops and restaurants surrounding it. The bold design has played a significant role in the occupancy rate for the client. The architecture is designed to create an inviting and pleasant indoor climate with a low carbon footprint.
Nodi breathes wood and glass
Anyone approaching Nodi from the street is tempted to peer through the large glass panels surrounding the entrance level. The internally visible frame and the façade in linoleum-treated glulam and panel make a warm impression and give a wooden feel throughout the building. Thanks to the deep wooden niches along the entire inside of the facade, visible wooden beams in the ceiling and wooden panels on the walls, the natural wooden feeling is always present.
The five storeys cantilever out and become larger with each floor, especially towards the south and west. In this way, the design of the house contributes to a better indoor climate and protects against the sun’s glaring rays without shutting out the light. The slats together with the large glass sections on the entrance level provide transparency to the interior space and provide an inviting focal point for passers-by. On the street level there are premises for shops that become a natural part of the popular Hovås Allé street. And at the very top, overlooking Nya Hovås and its surroundings, all the building’s tenants can enjoy the lush roof terrace and a spacious communal kitchenette.
“Thanks to the close, ambitious and open collaboration between all parties, we have been able to develop a pioneering project that has resulted in Gothenburg’s, and also one of Sweden’s, first wooden office buildings,” said Joakim Hansson, Lead Architect at White Arkitekter.
A natural building in many ways
The tradition of building in wood is experiencing a renaissance, and with new adapted regulations, research, and experience, it is possible to create modern buildings in wood that meet today’s needs. The benefits of wood are not only a low carbon footprint, but it is also very much an aesthetic choice. In Nodi’s case, we have chosen to expose as much of the timber frame as possible to make visible the simple but expressive aesthetics of wood. Wood contributes to a pleasant indoor environment, as well as more even humidity and temperature.
“We have had a high level of ambition with the whole project and together with White Arkitekter we have succeeded in creating the qualities that we saw in front of us. It is clear that these values are appreciated by our tenants and the letting went very quickly, thanks in large part to the architecture,” said Oskar Lindström, Project Manager at Next Step Group.
Project Details
- Client: Next Step Group
- Architect: White Arkitekter (Lead architect: Joakim Hansson)
- Location: Nya Hovås, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Square metres: 4 659 sqm
- Function: Office building with shops on the groundfloor and a common roof terrace
- Project period: 2019 – 2021
