Visitor Pavilion at the Linnaeus Garden

The brief was to, in a restricted footprint and on a tight budget, create a café, shop, restrooms, office and staffroom. In order to get a planning permit the building had to sit well within the historical surroundings yet for us it also needed to be recognizably modern. The location of our building is where there, in von Linnés time, stood a barn. By placing the pavilion on its footprint not only do we echo the past but also reinstate the gardens forecourt as a framed room and highlight the sites axis. This placement also creates a new entrance courtyard within the site. The curved roof plays with the proportions of each flanking courtyard and is also a reference to the 18th century interest in Chinese arts and architecture.

In order to create a new sequence of movement a new gate was made in the existing wooden fence. This new gate leads the visitor into a flowering outdoor space. The limited footprint and budget did not allow for a café within the building so the trellis and plant framed courtyard functions as the cafés sitting area, the serving kiosk further framing the space. The separation of function also allows for variable opening hours. The entrance is intimate and personal, a café surrounded by lush flowers and shaded by a small apple tree. The facade materia here is wood painted in green and white. Towards reestablished forecourt the façade is higher, glazed and more formal, matching the presence of the linden trees and Linnaues residental building. This façade will in time be overgrown with hydragneas, which will further root and connect the building in the garden and bring the planting inside through the foilages play of shadows. In addition this semi seethrough screen of flowers will allow visitors to sense the garden through the foliage, adding a bit of drama to the entrance sequence.

The entire construction, including ground works, was carried out in six months at a cost of 15.6 million SEK. The project was a close collaboration between the architect, the tenant Uppsala University and the gardeners as well as the owner - The Swedish Property Board. The building has an area of 143 square meters and the entrance courtyard has an area of 200 square meters. The building is made of wood on a primary steel frame, which was constructed by a shipyard to exacting standards, on a concrete foundation. The windows are single-glazed as a conscious decision was made not to heat the building during the wintertime – to save energy. The gables are clad with sheet metal reflecting the buildings functional nature.