Reykjavik, Iceland
One Stage Competition
Design Team:
Principal: Sean Lally
(Andrew Corrigan, Paul Kweton)
In much the same way that the existing thermal pools on the site mix ocean water with recycled heated water from the geothermal resources to create a unique condition for swimming all year round, the project looks to use these same thermal resources to affect the local climate conditions on land, including air temperature and soil temperature for vegetative growth. Each of the programmed land forms proposed around the site is tied to the other by a climatic ‘wash’ that extends the seasonal activities, controls winds, and permits an extended period of usable time outdoors during the course of the year. The wash permeates the public parks yet extends beyond the surround and engage the new building masses so as to produce artificial micro-climates –extending seasonal opportunities and outdoor activity, and acting as a connecting tissue from the north to the south of the site, a connection more substantive than simply providing a spine or corridor.
The visual characteristics of the “climatic wash” come from not only the juxtaposition of growing vegetation against the surrounding snow-covered grounds in winter but also the interaction and energy transfers between these locally produced micro-climates nested within the existing larger climatic trends of the city.
New artificial landforms surround the site perimeter. Built by piling earth on new parking structures and then adding proposed buildings on top of them, the mounds rise on either side in the shape of a valley tied together by a “climatic wash” that acts as a connecting tissue from the north to the south of the site.
Geo-thermal energy is fed into the soil, allowing for year-round vegetation growth and recreational activities.
