Uppsala Concert and Congress Hall, Sweden

Uppsala's new concert and congress hall elegantly interplays with the historical surroundings of the city. The building constitutes an important cultural landmark in the city, offering a new modern chapter to the story of Uppsala. The 37m-high building houses exhibition areas and three concert halls.

Crystal design

With its reflecting metallic façades the building appears as a large, split crystal. The vertical cleft in the building provides the public with access from two sides – from the old historical town and from the modern and vibrant Vaksala Square. The horizontal cleft at the top of the building offers a magnificent panoramic view of Uppsala, which is dominated by the castle, cathedral and university library.

On the arrival floor (level two) there is an exhibition and banquet hall with room for 600 guests. Here there is also a large, open cafe with a south-oriented terrace. The long red escalators connect the building's different foyer areas and lead visitors from the arrival hall up to level three, where they are met by a magnificent view of Vaksala Square. Level three contains a large conference and music hall that seats up to 350 guests and a smaller meeting hall with room for 100. From level three, the escalators continue in a spectacular continuous length of more than three floors up to the grand hall's foyer on level six offering a unique panoramic view of Uppsala's rooftops and historical skyline.

The grand hall

The grand hall's spectator seating rises from stage level on level five all the way up to the rear balcony on level eight. Levels three, four and five house a number of functions: offices, rehearsal rooms, backstage area, stage entrances, box seats and storage. Level seven also houses a separate conference room.

In the 'horizontal slit of light' which is the large foyer of the hall, the residents of Uppsala and their guests may walk around in the hall on a higher level than the surrounding roofs – a visual prelude and accompaniment to the ensuing musical experience.

The grand hall is the largest and most important room in the building, seating up to 1,150 guests from the stalls to the balcony. With its sublime acoustics and technical flexibility, the hall is designed for a large and versatile repertoire, from large symphony orchestra concerts to modern hip hop and jazz.