Landsbankinn headquarters

Batteríið received 2nd prize in the international architectural competition for the new National Bank Headquarters in Reykjavik placed in the old east harbour area with Reykjavík city center as an attractive backdrop for the new Music hall and Conference Centre

The competition was an invitational starting with 21 international architecture firms and was divided into a two stage idea competition, 5 firms were selected to continue in the final stage. The design perimeters for the new National Bank headquarters in Iceland were to connect the newest part of Austurhöfn (east harbour) with Reykjavík city center as an attractive backdrop for the new music hall and conference centre. It was important for the bank building to be a unique design as well as service a wide range of services in the near future. The design needed to be symbolic as well as to mark a new beginning in the bank´s history. The goal of the project was to create an exciting city landscape while it respected the scale of the existing city center and worked to connect the older small scale buildings to the larger scale of the new music hall, conference centre and  hotels. The building was to have a strong relationship with the exterior spaces such as walkways, open plazas and gardens for the dense surroundings residences and businesses. The building had to use the site economically, be well accessible, flexible and be designed to consider the climate.