Bjarke Ingels and his firm BIG produce enticing concepts and ideas for the architecture world, and their latest project – Uppsala Power Plant (UPP) in Sweden – is no exception.
BIG was asked to design a biomass cogeneration plant to supplement Uppsala’s existing energy production during peak times. Instead of a traditional overbearing and forbidding power plant structure, Bjarke Ingels has designed something quite the opposite.
The design consists of a geometric rainbow dome, positioned over the top of traditional power plant infrastructure. The dome itself is distorted to allow space for the different machines, while the rainbow colour scheme across the facets of the dome is a direct colour expression of the amount of sun exposure encountered by the structure, ranging from hot to cold and red to blue.
As the plant would only be seasonal, the site could double as a tourist spot in the summer months.
Taking inspiration from London’s Tate Modern, itself located in a decommissioned power plant, BIG envisages that by making the plant transparent and inviting, the building will ‘lend itself to accommodate unanticipated events’ and ‘turn social’ in the summer months.
Being designed to offer this amount of functionality, The Diamond Dome will be surrounded by an open public space, and have numerous educational, leisure and F&B offerings.
During winter, an internal visitor centre would offer an enlightening glimpse into energy production, and an accessible ‘Catwalk’ would be situated on top of the dome, acting as a viewing platform for guests.
Although only at concept stage, this unique idea offers an insight into the future of energy production, and how it could become a potential asset for the tourism and leisure industry.
