Two years later, the Nobel Foundation moved the site to Slussen, a district just to the north of Blasieholmen that’s currently undergoing a dramatic—and contentious—transformation led by Foster + Partners. The center will sit along a planned waterfront promenade, and will be accessible by public transportation, foot, bicycle, or boat. The new site at Slussen was already approved for a since-nixed office building. Per the foundation, the existing detailed development plan “specifies clear and specific frameworks concerning the shape, height and width of the building.”

Comprising four interconnected volumes constructed primarily from timber, Chipperfield’s latest design for the center emulates the 17th-century buildings of neighboring Gamla Stan (Old Town) in scale and proportion. The roughly 140,000-square-foot center will include an auditorium, restaurant, museum store, and spaces for public programs. A permanent exhibition about Alfred Nobel will display the famous Swede’s will, in which he established his namesake foundation, for the first time. A terrace at the front of the entrance and roof patios will provide outdoor space and views of Saltsjön, a bay of the Baltic Sea, and Lake Mälaren. Gone is the brass cladding, replaced with a facade of reclaimed red brick, in a nod to a material characteristic of Stockholm. Funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Erling-Persson Foundation together with the Nobel Foundation, the project is estimated to cost $280 million. Construction is due to start next year and the museum slated to open in 2031.

“Shaped by its prominent location on the Slussen waterfront, it has a distinctively civic presence rooted in its location and daily life of the city, while also reflecting the broader significance of the Nobel Prize,” said David Chipperfield in a statement.  “At a time when expertise and informed debate are more vital than ever, our hope is that the Nobel Center will stand as a resilient space of knowledge and exchange.”