Urban Couture Arkitekter, together with Neutelings Riedijk Architects from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, formed one of seven teams selected to participate in the architecture competition for the Stockholm University of Arts (SKH), a new building in the Slakthusområdet district.

The city is the birthplace of performing arts and therefore the two are culturally inseparable. In the renewed Slakthus area, our proposal titled ‘The Urban Podium’ will therefore seek a direct connection with its surrounding urban domain as a cultural beacon.

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The different characters of the location, varying from an intimate neighbourhood to a public event zone, are reflected in the expression and organisation of the SKH. The public north-east side seeks the physical and visual connection between the new event square, the Tele2 arena and the Svenne Berkas Torg, where the south-west side of the location, situated on private residential streets, is more intimate and modest towards the neighbourhood.

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The varied path that students take during their studies is reflected in the organisation of the SKH. The learning and research trajectory starts in the protected environment of the private classrooms on the neighbourhood side in the House of Creation. The students then grow in their expertise to be able to perform for a large audience in the House of Performance or in the public Urban Podium.

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Performing arts flourish by the grace of the public, where the relationship with the public can be defined time and again: from very intimate to very large-scale. The new SKH enters into this connection in different ways spatially and facilitates its students to build a relationship with its public.

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This makes the new SKH not only a new home for the students and lecturers of the faculty, but at the same time a new cultural beacon for the Slakthus area. Visitors are always welcome. The continuation of the Slakthus floor within the building over the stepped Urban Podium towards the roof park invites visitors to get to know all the facets that the SKH has to offer. In this way, the SKH contributes with its Urban Podium to the organised and spontaneous relationship between performing arts and its public.