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A Palace for the People

Part 1 Project 2021
Inger Hernes
Kingston University Kingston | UK
The Palace for the People offers a sustainable architectural response to a time of crisis where we have learnt to adapt. A large span timber framed shed with a structure of glulam elements and roof trusses on a 5 by 5-meter grid, offering maximum flexibility within the building envelope. Minimal material is used to assemble an economical modular system that could be adapted or removed if needs change.

The structure adapts to diverse seasons of 21-hour days of summer and 4-hour days of winter with translucent ETFE-cushions admitting Nordic winter light into the building while regulating summer solar conditions from day to day. A tower serving as a landmark proclaiming the palace’s presence on the pier and the eastern wing are the only fixed spaces within the building, distributing all services along the structural grid of trusses and in linear floor conduits from plant rooms to facilitate many types of temporary inhabitation in the multipurpose hall that provides an intermediate layer of insulation and enclosure.

Pushing boundaries of the traditional timber frame, the 6500m2 open floor plan can adjust to accommodate everything from a concert for 12000 spectators to a vaccination station divided by movable partitions or permanent internal structures.


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2021
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