House of Sweden is a building in Washington, D.C., in which is located the Embassy of Sweden and the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

s of the

Republic of Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and the

Principality of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The building is located at 2900 K Street N.W. in the Georgetown neighborhood. Apart from the embassies, the building, which is owned by the Swedish state through its National Property Board, also houses representatives of Swedish commerce. Facilities includes a secretariat, exhibition space, 19 corporate office suites, and a high-tech business event center.

Building

The building was designed by the Swedish architects Gert Wingårdh and Tomas Hansen, with VOA Associates in Washington, D.C., as

architect of record Architect of record is the architect or architecture firm whose name appears on a building permit issued for a specific project on which that architect or firm performed services. Building permits are issued by a government agency with the author ...

. It has five floors and a total surface of . The front of the building is

glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

. Construction began in August 2004 and completed in the summer of 2006. The embassy moved into the building at the beginning of August 2006. Previously the embassy was housed in rented space, first at

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

600, and later at 1501 M Street N.W. The House of Sweden's design expresses many nods to Swedish symbols, including graphically matching materials such as marble, native Swedish maple wood, and expansive glass to relate associations back to the climate of the Swedish homeland. These materials were also intended to transcend into metaphors of Sweden's political transparency and purity. An integrated functional design is also showcased, from the moment you engage the steps, which seamlessly meld into the topography. All the above is executed with typical Scandinavian design precedents and finesse. The building was inaugurated on October 23, 2006, by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...

and Queen Silvia. Also present at the inauguration were Minister for Foreign Affairs

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...

and Ambassador of Sweden to the United States Gunnar Lund. Gert Wingårdh received the Swedish national architecture award—the

Kasper Salin Prize The Kasper Salin Prize ( sv, Kasper Salin-priset) is a prize awarded annually by Architects Sweden () to a Swedish building or building project "of high architectural quality". It is considered the most prestigious architectural prize in the countr ...

—for House of Sweden in 2007.

References

External links

House of SwedenEmbassy of SwedenEmbassy of Iceland
{{Authority control

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Iceland–United States relations Liechtenstein–United States relations Sweden–United States relations Buildings and structures completed in 2006 Gert Wingårdh buildings Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) 2006 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Building

See also

References

External links