Radiolaria - Student Housing

Program: Student Housing

Location: Brinellvägen 8, Stockholm

By: Koosha Atashgard

Status: Proposal

Year: 2022

A 16-storey student housing tower developed around a polar plan divided into twelve radial sections. Each segment subtly rotates as the building rises, generating a dynamic rhythm throughout the façade while expressing the internal geometry of the structure. The plan draws inspiration from the microscopic geometries of radiolaria sea organisms, translating natural organizational principles into an architectural system.

The student apartments are conceived as generous double-height units with integrated loft spaces, allowing for increased daylight penetration, vertical spaciousness and spatial flexibility within a compact footprint. Every unit is provided with a private balcony and integrated planting. Beyond housing, the building functions as a vertical social infrastructure for student life. Shared communal spaces including a library, gym, sauna, meeting rooms and a collective event floor are distributed throughout the building to encourage interaction and exchange.

The structural system consists primarily of CLT timber combined with cast concrete floor slabs to improve acoustic separation between units while maintaining the warmth, efficiency and sustainability of a timber structure. The façade is clad in Falun red wood panels and articulated through both large tectonic gestures and finer ornamental detailing. Its expression simultaneously reveals the structural logic and radial geometry of the building while referencing Nordic craft traditions and vernacular architecture.