Malmö Live

Malmö Live is located in the centre of the port city, in direct proximity to the old town, the central station, the university and the port. To integrate Malmö Live into the historic environment, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects decided at an early stage on a ceramic facade. The modern building complex thus picks up the tradition of the former Hanseatic city of Malmö with its brick buildings and develops it further. In the development of the facade appearance, Schmidt Hammer Lassen focused on finding a uniform pattern that went evenly across the differently designed buildings. In numerous test series, in which both the tone mixtures and the glaze colors were varied, the planner and the manufacturer jointly worked toward an optimal solution. The result was a combination of red, yellow and white brick with translucent glazing that adopt Malmö’s typical color palette, and give the representative building a ceremonial and shining effect. Depending on the weather, the light mood and the season, the facade appears in continually new shades. For instance, the white shade of the hotel appears almost blueish on clear spring days, while the red and yellow shades of the concert hall and the conference centre light up in pink on long summer evenings.