Year: 2025-2027 (ongoing)

Client: Skellefteå kommun (via Peab)

Focus: Interior Architecture, Circular Material & Design Strategy, Bespoke Furniture, Learning & Innovation Environments

Architect: LINK Arkitektur

ACE Powerhouse is a new landmark for electrification, innovation and sustainable energy in northern Sweden. Located in Skellefteå, the building brings together research, education and industry within a shared environment for knowledge exchange and green transition. The project certification Sweden Green Building Council's Miljöbyggnad 4.0, aligns with EU Taxonomy requirements, and sets ambitious goals for circular material use throughout.

Interesting Times Gang has been appointed as lead interior architect, guiding the development of the building's interior environments from early concept through to delivery.

The Challenge

ACE Powerhouse is designed to serve a wide range of users under one roof: researchers and students, companies, visitors, and international collaborators. The challenge was to create a coherent, flexible interior where office work, research, education and public activity coexist without losing a sense of identity or direction.

At the same time, the building's high ambitions place real demands on the interior: material choices should be legible, circular flows should be part of the story, and the environment itself should reflect ACE's role as a hub for the future of energy systems.

Design Concept: Forms of Energy

We developed the interior concept Forms of Energy, inspired by the principle that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. The concept governs everything: the reuse of existing materials, color, surface choices and spatial experience.

Our Process

The project is organized across four phases: Exploration, Concept, Design and Deliver.

During Exploration, we conducted needs analysis, ran workshops with the project organisation and inventoried local material streams and reuse opportunities. We studied requirements around accessibility and Miljöbyggnad 4.0 certification, and visited reference environments including KTH and the newly developed Albano campus in Stockholm.

During Concept, we developed moodboards and concept descriptions for the building's identity-defining spaces: entrance foyer, restaurant and co-working environments. We held dialogues with representatives from research and education to ensure the concept genuinely serves the building's different uses.

In the Design phase - where the project currently stands - we are developing detailed floor plans, furniture layouts and material specifications. We are collaborating with Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson, professor of Design at Luleå University of Technology (LTU), to ensure inclusive design and accessibility are embedded from the outset.

Scope of Work

• Overarching interior concept and interior identity for the full building
• Floor plans and furniture layouts for foyer, café, restaurant, co-working, lecture and meeting rooms
• Material strategy prioritizing reused, recycled and bio-based materials
• Bespoke furniture and custom interior elements
• Technical documentation and procurement briefs
• Support through production, installation and handover

Sustainability & Certification

The project has been awarded Environmental Building of the Year in Sweden, is certified according to Miljöbyggnad 4.0 and meets the requirements of the EU Taxonomy for sustainable investments. The material strategy prioritizes reuse and local material streams, and circular flows are made visible within the interior; not hidden behind cladding, but readable for the people who use the building every day.

Images: LINK Arkitektur. Project completes 2027.