Swedish city Varberg is getting a new landmark. White Arkitekter has created a competition winning proposal that is unique in a water tower context – instead of a traditional tower, the facility has been sculpted in the shape of an elongated stylised wave.
Two narrow cisterns, placed one after the other horizontally, create the stretched profile. The shape illustrates fluidity, synonymous with the tower’s task of storing water. The bold geometry is instantly recognisable from great distances across the region’s flat landscape.
The tower’s placement achieves a dramatic and sculptural silhouette; viewed from the side, the tower is long and wide, while appearing very narrow when viewed from the front. As light and shadow play across the concrete, passers-by can perceive the smooth horizontal curvature of the façade.
The elongated shape is also a nod to the famous infrastructure in the area; rows of wind turbines along the motorway that cut through the landscape and the multiple antennae of the long-wave transmitter at UNESCO World Heritage site Grimeton Radio Station.
To see more amazing entries from this year’s WAN Awards please click here.