Post by sersi on Jun 10, 2013 10:00:58 GMT -8
((This information has been up on the wiki since pretty much launch, but not everyone goes over to the TSW-Wiki so thought I should finally move it over here for reference. Most of this was lovingly plotted out by Fitz. Enjoy!))
The Solvall
The Solvall (or The Solvall Building, more properly Solveig Hall) is a 33-story, 433-foot (132 m) skyscraper in Brooklyn, New York. One of the tallest buildings in the borough, the Solvall has an equivalent measure of floor space by virtue of the "the boat," the horizontal extension at the crown of the building that encompasses the top nine stories and juts out over the East River. The name comes from Solveig Rystaad, the primary contributor to the project, and today the building serves as the headquarters for his-then private company AEgir Communications. The Solvall is built on the site of a 150 year old Domino Sugar refinery, which beat out attempts to preserve it as an historic landmark or turn it into a residential complex. Construction began in June 2005, and was delayed considerably by arguments with local unions. The building was officially opened on New Year's Day 2009, though it had been in use by AEgir employees since the previous September.
Architecture
The Solvall is most noted for its very irregular crown, which was the source of considerable initial disapproval from the city of New York when the design was first revealed. Even after addressing their concerns, Rystaad faced opposition from local construction companies by hiring a Swiss firm to engineer the top nine stories. Contrasted with his years of success as "diplomat between businessmen," Rystaad's sudden stubborness in his dealings and the bizarre fixation he had on the building's design were later identified as symptoms of his illness. After completion, it was hinted by daughter Seanne Rystaad that the building is a highly-sylized depiction of an old Norse stave church turned on its front, "like a giant kicked it over." Given his Icelandic heritage and philanthropic support of norse historical landmarks, the avant-garde reconstruction of such an architectural legacy soothed many tempers among area academics, which has helped the immediate blocks around the tower renovate and gentrify. The building itself was featured in the BBC documentary "Religion in Architecture" in 2010.
Building Layout
The three-story main floor of the building is a wide base, itself modelled after a Scandinavian Långhus, with a wide open space supported by tall, carved stone pillars. There are several smaller offices in the back and to the sides of this space, largely for support and supply functions. The slanted roof is glass, and looks directly down onto the main lobby, where a thin, long pool occupies the center space between the colonnades. Too much traffic in this space is frowned upon. The next twenty floors are divided up in sets of four, every fourth floor serving as a combination of security/visitor help hub, food court, Starbucks, and meeting/display room. The three intervening floors are given alternately to offices for AEgir or other companies, with the exception of the Hilton that provides rooms on floors sixteen to eighteen and is often used to host visiting members of other companies. The top nine floors of the building are the largest, as noted, and have an emphasis on glass and open space. A massive sunroof dominates the central space and even the front wall overlooking the East River, feeding a garden on its bottom floor that is carefully cultivated to look like an old Scandinavian forest (albeit a very small slice of one.) The rear wall even has a waterfall that feeds a stream through this forest. The water then is released back into pipes running from the crown to the basement, providing a constant loop for stability not unlike that proposed for some space elevators. Like the lobby, all the functional rooms are off to the sides of this center space. The first three floors of the Crown are open to visitors, and include the Rystaad Museum of Norse History and associated workshops. The six floors above this are given to AEgir itself, and its highest-level employees.
The Solvall
The Solvall (or The Solvall Building, more properly Solveig Hall) is a 33-story, 433-foot (132 m) skyscraper in Brooklyn, New York. One of the tallest buildings in the borough, the Solvall has an equivalent measure of floor space by virtue of the "the boat," the horizontal extension at the crown of the building that encompasses the top nine stories and juts out over the East River. The name comes from Solveig Rystaad, the primary contributor to the project, and today the building serves as the headquarters for his-then private company AEgir Communications. The Solvall is built on the site of a 150 year old Domino Sugar refinery, which beat out attempts to preserve it as an historic landmark or turn it into a residential complex. Construction began in June 2005, and was delayed considerably by arguments with local unions. The building was officially opened on New Year's Day 2009, though it had been in use by AEgir employees since the previous September.
Architecture
The Solvall is most noted for its very irregular crown, which was the source of considerable initial disapproval from the city of New York when the design was first revealed. Even after addressing their concerns, Rystaad faced opposition from local construction companies by hiring a Swiss firm to engineer the top nine stories. Contrasted with his years of success as "diplomat between businessmen," Rystaad's sudden stubborness in his dealings and the bizarre fixation he had on the building's design were later identified as symptoms of his illness. After completion, it was hinted by daughter Seanne Rystaad that the building is a highly-sylized depiction of an old Norse stave church turned on its front, "like a giant kicked it over." Given his Icelandic heritage and philanthropic support of norse historical landmarks, the avant-garde reconstruction of such an architectural legacy soothed many tempers among area academics, which has helped the immediate blocks around the tower renovate and gentrify. The building itself was featured in the BBC documentary "Religion in Architecture" in 2010.
Building Layout
The three-story main floor of the building is a wide base, itself modelled after a Scandinavian Långhus, with a wide open space supported by tall, carved stone pillars. There are several smaller offices in the back and to the sides of this space, largely for support and supply functions. The slanted roof is glass, and looks directly down onto the main lobby, where a thin, long pool occupies the center space between the colonnades. Too much traffic in this space is frowned upon. The next twenty floors are divided up in sets of four, every fourth floor serving as a combination of security/visitor help hub, food court, Starbucks, and meeting/display room. The three intervening floors are given alternately to offices for AEgir or other companies, with the exception of the Hilton that provides rooms on floors sixteen to eighteen and is often used to host visiting members of other companies. The top nine floors of the building are the largest, as noted, and have an emphasis on glass and open space. A massive sunroof dominates the central space and even the front wall overlooking the East River, feeding a garden on its bottom floor that is carefully cultivated to look like an old Scandinavian forest (albeit a very small slice of one.) The rear wall even has a waterfall that feeds a stream through this forest. The water then is released back into pipes running from the crown to the basement, providing a constant loop for stability not unlike that proposed for some space elevators. Like the lobby, all the functional rooms are off to the sides of this center space. The first three floors of the Crown are open to visitors, and include the Rystaad Museum of Norse History and associated workshops. The six floors above this are given to AEgir itself, and its highest-level employees.
