Bo:X, a city portal with a ventilated façade

Based on geometric shapes and simple volumes, the architecture of Bo:X, a shopping centre in the Kungens Kurva area north of Stockholm, acts as a portal where drivers coming off the A4 motorway may stop before going into the centre of town. In the country’s biggest shopping district, characterised by a series of anonymous buildings all much the same, the new Bo:X project stands out for its unusual façade. In addition to giving it a high impact image, the walls are selected for their characteristics of resistance and ability to protect the inner cladding from the rigid temperatures characteristic of Sweden.
For this reason, the architects at studio 2 Karsman Arkitekter AB designed façades made of prefabricated sandwich elements made of black sheet metal on the outside and completed the southern wall with a ventilated façade made of Lavagna black ceramic units which provide a frost-proof protective skin particularly well-suited to its purpose.The slabs of porcelain stoneware with the Lavagna finish, supplied by Iris Ceramica in the 66 x 33 cm size and laid horizontally, are interrupted by the glass surface identifying the pedestrian entrance and vehicle access route. To underline the presence of the emergency stairs, diagonal cuts in the eastern wall lighten up the volumes, which are covered with coloured glass on the outside and assembled on a steel profile construction. The same glass elements are present on the entrance to the parking lot and the openings in the building’ western wall. The glass parts are lit up to give the shopping centre building a lively appearance.

The interruptions in the ceramic cladding on the facades also allow the inside to communicate with the outside, while the ventilated façade continues onto the building’s eastern and western walls for a few metres. Inside, the building has three levels above ground as well as a basement level, and contains shops and a parking lot for 311 cars.Each of the 4 levels is arranged around a central plaza, illuminated by a skylight, onto which all the shops and the ground floor restaurant face. The plazas on the different levels are the starting points for corridors leading to the parking areas. With the addition of motion created by the geometric designs of its parts, and characterised by use of different cladding solutions, from ceramics to glass, the façades demonstrate on the outside what the shopping centre sells: a variety of items for the home, with the prerogative of being trendy, continually change, strictly keeping up with the times.

Design: 2KA 2 Karsman Arkitekter AB
Client: Owners of the Bo:X shopping centre
Location: Kungens Kurva, Stockholm (Sweden)
Ventilated façade made of Lavagna ceramic tiles from Iris Ceramica’s Format collection, in the 66x33 cm size