Straume Sartor Center

GROSS.MAX. in collaboration with London and Oslo-based office Haptic and NORDIC office of architecture have just won the competition to redesign a three-block strip in straume’s urban center.

Titled ‘from shopping center to city’, the commissioned by sartor holding called for ‘innovative and flexible solutions’ to reinvent the public square and surrounding area to accommodate a range of events and inject a renewed identity. The assembly of structures are formed to benefit from natural light and allow light to reach the surrounding residential areas, all the while blocking the all-too-common winds that surge through the city.

The two blocks to the south of the central square contain a hotel and mixed-use residential and commercial space, with the most notable feature being the new 13-storey tower housing a library and office space and creating a renewed landmark for the city.

Each component is also designed to adapt to any use, so that the actual program can be shifted based on client or community need