The glowing House of Sweden is getting jealous looks from Washington, DC's diplomatic community.
Photo: Thomas Quiggle

Sweden has always been somewhat homeless in Washington, DC, since it has never had its own embassy building. Over the years the nation’s diplomatic presence has shuttled from site to site around the city, from one rented office space to another.

But now House of Sweden will be home to not only the country’s embassy but also an exhibition hall, an ultramodern conference center and some of the leading representatives of Swedish commerce.

Glowing achievement
Tomas Hansen, who designed the building together with Gert Wingårdh of the architectural practice Wingårdhs, says: “It’s an absolutely fantastic location. What made it very special for us was the almost natural setting right in the city. In a way it’s very close to nature, and in Sweden architects often work with the relationship between the building and nature.


Light wood and glass make the interior bright, transparent and, indeed, very Swedish. Photo: Thomas Quiggle

The 69,000 square feet (6,400 square meters), five-story building oozes Swedishness, from the glass panels imported from Gothenburg to the open planning and wooden floors. Gert Wingårdh says: “We’re proud to say that we have a very transparent and open form of government in Sweden, and so we wanted the building to match this transparency by showing what goes on inside."

“We have tried to create a building that conveys something uniquely northern, like the low setting sun at dusk that creates a very reddish light. We wanted the building to glow with the same type of light,” continues Wingårdh. 

This effect was achieved by backlighting the veneered wood panels that cloak the building. “They give off a reddish light into the dark southern night sky,” he says.

Mystical feeling
The Swedish National Property Board (Statens fastighetsverk), which owns the building, organized a competition to design House of Sweden. The brief: design a building that communicates the message that Swedish government and politics are characterized by transparency and openness.

“So when it came to choosing materials it meant a lot of glass, with different degrees of transparency,” says Hansen.


This water-filled glass wall is part of Swedish artist Ingegerd Råman's work of art "March 6 am". It greets people who enter the building. Photo: BLR-fotograferna ab

He says the screen-printed glass used extensively inside creates “a sort of mystical feeling.” “It resembles early-morning mist in the Swedish countryside. Together these features are supposed to give a feeling of Sweden – but in a way you have never seen before.”

The building materials used are also either Swedish or like those used in Sweden. “For economic reasons the white stone is not from Sweden but from Italy,” says Wingårdh. “We also used Canadian maple; in my home city of Gothenburg there is a concert hall where the entire interior is made of Canadian maple. As for the glass, Sweden has a great tradition in this area, so we have used Swedish glass – crystal glass, no greenness, very clear.”

Faking it
The architects originally planned to use real wooden veneer on the balconies, but realized that the high humidity in Washington, DC could create problems. So like generations of cash-strapped Swedes before them, they faked it.

“We decided to go for a computer-generated, exaggerated wooden veneer, which was printed on a film,” says Wingårdh. “This goes back to the great Swedish tradition of imitating wood and marble in what used to be a rather poor country.”

Imitation wood has been used to make the House of Sweden façade last longer in the humid US capital.
Photo: Thomas Quiggle

Not all Swedish diplomats around the world can expect to have such a desirable place of work, however. The US is a special case for this type of investment, being Sweden’s biggest trading partner. It is hoped that a bit of showing off will pay for itself in the long run.

The 19 apartments on the top floors are being rented out to Swedish companies looking for a high-profile location from which to do business, with one being kitted out by Swedish furniture giant Ikea and Danish electronics company Bang & Olufsen to showcase the best of Scandinavian design.

The building speaks Swedish
Gunilla Ekberg, general manager at House of Sweden, says: “For all of those who cannot make it to Sweden, this is an opportunity for Sweden to come to them. When you walk into the main entrance you see through the entire building. You see green, you see nature and you see water. This building speaks Swedish.”

Facts – House of Sweden

• Cost: SEK 470 million (USD 65 million), including the riverfront land on which it stands.
• Construction start: August 2004.
• Ready to move in: Spring/summer 2006.
• Contractors: The National Property Board of Sweden/Lano/Armada Harbourside LLC.
• Design architect: Wingårdhs.
• Tenants: The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saab, Volvo Group and others.
• Owner/administrator: The National Property Board of Sweden.
• Staff: The Swedish embassy has more than 50 employees.
• Extra: The rooftop terrace – with view over the Potomac – has room for 200 people.
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  David Wiles is the editor of Sweden Today magazine.
  
  The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
  
  Classification: A166EN
  
  © Photos 1, 2 and 4: Thomas Quiggle
  © Photo 3: BLR-fotograferna ab