The facades of the office block, Farao,
in Solna are not yet fully completed but already the
rust-coloured building looks magnificent reaching towards
the sky. The inside is more complete and one tenant
has already moved in. Stepping into the office areas,
you are struck by the clear light, the open areas and
the smart solutions regarding the technical installations.
After completing a small test project
successfully, property developer Sundvalls Bygg AB,
architect Kristian Lindgren, glass supplier Fasadglas
Bäcklin AB and techincal contractor, Flexible Office
AB, have completed a major project which in many aspects
is unique for the construction industry.
A Protek RAG intelligent air terminal and the Powerfloor
electrical supply system.
For the first time in Sweden a large number
of high tech solutions are being used in the same building.
The project group are certainly convinced
that the basic reason for the sucess of Farao is the
close cooperation between developer, contractor, architect
and technical contractor. "In this project, persons
with the same thinking about technical matters, flexibility,
contruction and design, together with a forward looking
modern developer, have created a tight group with the
same focus, which is rather unusual when we look at
large projects such as Farao", says Sebastian Wrethagen,
reponsible for the underfloor climate and power distribution
installations, the "Protek System".
"As a result, we have achieved an extremely short completion time
and have created a building which is far in advance
when we talk flexibility, indoor environment and techincal
specifications."
The project group contributed to the result
in different ways. Architect, Kristian Lindgren, tells
us about his ideas for the exterior design. "I certainly
did not want a building looking like a glass prism and
I managed to avoid this by combining three different
types of facades; one façade of aluminium profiles,
one with traditional shutters, and the third one of
glass and aluminium. This also created an exiting contrast
between a heavy contruction and a very light one. The
glass facade is really double-glazing with almost a
one-meter gap in between the glass - in this way, we
can reduce the heat during hot summer days. In southern
Europe this method is well known, but in Sweden it is
almost unknown."
The interior of the building is open and,
at first it seems like you can look right throught the
building. And you almost can! Kristian explains that
this is exactly the concept - to create a bright and
spacious indoor garden.
As all partitions, the lift walls and
even the stairs are made of glass, and the shafts for
the lifts are transparent, the light goes right through
the building.
But it is not only the extreme brightness
that is unusal with the Farao building. The indoor flexibility
is enormous compared to normal office areas.
As the distance between the floor and
the ceiling is the same in all areas, and the glass
partitions are secured to the raised floor with easy
to release snap-on fixings, the office space can be
changed in minutes. This is essential to modern computerized
companies - especially to the fast growing ones.
"Offices of the future must be designed
so they can easily adapt to tenants with different needs",
says Kristian Lindgren. "We have been able to achieve
this by being responsible also for the total interior."
"Of course the easy to move partition
are important to indoor flexibility", Kristian continues,
"but even more important is total flexibility when it
comes to electrical supply, data / voice cabling and
the climate system. These systems must be easy to allocate
without major work in the building."
"By using the Protek System, which utilises
the underfloor conditioned air and services, we have
reached the flexibility the developer and his tenants
were looking for." says Sebastian Wrethagen.
The combination of high tech, light, space
and exiting exterior makes Farao one of Sweden's most
interesting building projects of its time.
