Main project during my intership at KRADS Arkitektar was a competition entry for a design of a hotel complex located in the heart of Reykjavík - Kvosin. The goal of the open call was to find and shape a volume of a large hotel complex within the area and revitalize the surrounding public space. This area inluded Ingólfstorg, Víkurgarður and northern part of Austurvöllur.
Our approach was based on three main ideas. First of them was to add as little new volume as possible, use and preserve existing buildings. Secondly, to create a continuous, accessible and flexible public space. Last was to reestablish western side of Inngólfstorg - Aðalstræti - as a street.
Aðalstræti once used to be Reykjavík’s first street. In the current state, one side of the street is missing - historical buildings were removed and the street became included as part of the plazza of Inngólfstorg. The plazza is supposed to play the role of the downtown centerpoint, yet does not give much of the feeling in current form. We proposed to build a row of buildings in the same scale as the remaining historical houses and thus close the square and adjust the scale - new buildings on Aðalstræti do not respect this scale.
We proposed a multifunctional modular grid surface of the plazza, which would allow the city to place various activities throughout the year.
designed w/ KRADS
