Ecca collection

Middelfart Savings Bank

Middelfart Savings Bank is an important and influential institution to the townspeople of Middelfart, a small sea port on the central Danish island of Funen. Perhaps not surprisingly then the organisation had ambitious aspirations for its new head office.

Images courtesy of Adam Mõrk

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Bilbao Arena

Architectural practice ACXT admits that local geology and vegetation were both influential in the design of the striking Bilbao Arena and Sports Centre, which occupies a steeply inclined site, within a park, in the city’s central Miribilla district.

Images courtesy of Jorge Allende and Aitor Ortiz

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Swedish Pavilion - Shangai Expo

Designing the Swedish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo was a slightly less daunting task than designing many of the other pavilions, because it had a clearly defined function. What makes these projects so difficult in general is the almost entirely open-ended nature of the brief – they have to convey something about the national character, and house an exhibition, but beyond that and the physical limitations of the site, it is possible to do anything. In the case of the Swedish Pavilion, however, there was at least a requirement to house meetings with potential trade partners, and this gave the design more of a functional programme than is customary.

Images courtesy of August Wiklund, Sweco, & Petter Eldin

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