C. F. Møller Architects has won a shared first prize in the competition for the new Kristiansund Opera and Cultural Centre located in the centre of Kristiansund, Norway. The inauguration of the Kristiansund Opera and Cultural Centre is planned to take place in 2013.
The other first prize in the competition for the Kristiansund Opera and Cultural Centre goes to the Norwegian firm Space Group in collaboration with the London firm Brisac Gonzales for their project "Silencio".
The two winning teams will now go into a clarification process before one of the parties is entrusted with the task.
The vision of the new Opera House is to create a cultural power centre in Kristiansund, the capital of the region of Nordmøre, west of Trondheim – a landmark to the entire region.
C. F. Møller Architects
+ Project description courtesy of C. F. Møller Architects
Kristiansund Opera and Cultural Centre will house Norway's oldest opera, dating back to 1805, which every year arranges the Opera Festival Weeks – Norway's largest and most comprehensive presentation of opera and musical theatre and one of Scandinavia's largest opera festivals.
The vision of the new Opera House is to create a cultural power centre in Kristiansund, the capital of the region of Nordmøre, west of Trondheim – a landmark to the entire region.
Apart from the opera the new cultural centre will house a ballet centre, library, college centre, conference rooms, a restaurant, and a café. The task has been to integrate two existing buildings, one of them the former Folkets Hus, in the new and create a vibrant urban space around the building by connecting the cultural centre with the pedestrian streets, squares and a nearby park.
Kulturkvartalet, as the project made by C. F. Møller Architects is called, unites the different cultural functions in a dynamic and creative environment, centred round the main concert hall. The concert hall has been designed to offer sublime acoustics and super flexible theatre settings.
The Kristiansund Opera is one of several significant cultural buildings designed by C. F. Møller Architects in recent years. These include the Darwin Centre in London, the cocoon shaped extension of the Natural History Museum in London, which contains both Darwin's unique collection and a world-leading science research centre research facilities. C. F. Møller Architects has also been responsible for extension of the Concert Hall Aarhus, which has been doubled in size with a new Symphonic Hall with sublime acoustics and facilities for the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music. Furthermore the company has won first prize in the competition for the new Odense Music and Theatre Hall, a cultural centre with four halls and facilities for the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music.
+ Project credits / data
Project: Kristiansund Opera and Cultural Centre
Client: Kristiansund Kommune og FG Eiendom
Architect: C. F. Møller Architects
Address: The centre of Kristiansund
Size: 15400 m2
Year of competition: 2010
Year of construction: – 2014
+ All images courtesy of C. F. Møller Architects
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