Pulp Press, Norway

Nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture

– Mies Van Der Rohe Award 2015

‘Pulp Press (Kistefos) 2013’ in collaboration with John Gerrad Artist is a permanent site-specific commission for Kistefos Museum – one of Scandinavia’s largest parks of contemporary sculpture. The museum occupies the grounds of a 19th century paper mill in Jevnaker, an hour north of Oslo, Norway. The pavilion sits along the edge of the River Rands that powers the projected work within the pavilion by hydro-electrics – the very same river that gave rise to the original paper mill in 1889.

The cast concrete pavilion is an open-ended volume, 13m in length, 6.5m in width and 5m in height with one open façade facing the former paper mill and another facing the river. It sits at an angle to form a taut cluster with an existing boathouse and a cast concrete pier. The pavilion shares its polished concrete floor level with the pier that likewise takes its cue from the fifty-year flood level. Its concrete form is embedded like an erratic onto a sloping river meadow