The new build of the bank closes a gap between the old town and the harbour. It was designed by Nordic Office of Architecture in collaboration with C.F. Møller. The plan involves an ensemble of four interlacing buildings, each of which forms a pentagon in its layout. The architecture is horizontally aligned and is particularly effective as it takes up more space than height. This effect is even more pronounced by the line layout as well as the panel format and materials in the façade design made of glass and basalt stone. The architects have incorporated the formation of the volcanic basalt stone, which is very typical for the island. After the architecture competition had been decided in 2018, construction began in the subsequent year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. 

The clients contacted the fischer subsidiary in Sweden in order to obtain secure fastenings for the stone-glass façade. “Our client was highly convinced by the fact we were able to develop a custom solution tailored to the project. This was the only way to overcome the unique challenge involving fastenings that securely carry the heavy basalt stone façade and transfer the loads into the load-bearing substrate”, says Stefan Schrag, Market Manager of fischer BWM Fassaden-systeme GmbH, which has been part of the fischer Group of Companies since 14 March 2018. “We carried out compre-hensive pull-out tests and shear capacity tests with our FZP II undercut anchors in the Icelandic basalt stone panels in our laboratory after our client supplied us with samples. This allowed us to prove the suitability of our façade system consisting of the fischer FZP II Zykon panel anchors 13 x 21 M8 / 9 Carbon and the fischer BWM substructure systems ATK 101 and ATK 103 LBI as a custom solution for the bank through a highly elaborate static calculation.  Two new LBI profiles were specially developed for this project and will continue to be used in future”. 

Málmtækni HF (Reykjavik) was commissioned with the construction of the façade, which has words of praise for the cooperation with fischer: “We are proud to work with fischer because fischer products are of the highest quality”, underlines Höskuldur Örn Arnarson, CEO at Málmtækni HF. “Our experience has also confirmed that fischer provide superb service and technical assistance. This makes the company the perfect partner for big or small projects.” 

In addition to its suitable product solutions, fischer also offered crucial services. “We have already been able to successfully support our client with planning, calculating, testing and developing the custom solution that meets the project’s requirements and will continue to accompany them throughout every construction phase until the project’s successful completion", says Stefan Schrag. A custom version of the ATK 101 system was used as a vertical base construction of the all-in-one solution to fasten the façade. It includes a substructure for large supporting widths, for instance to span the entire height of the storey. The system is suitable for visible or glued direct façade panel fastenings, as a distance substructure or as a base construction for horizontal systems with concealed fastenings – as was the case with Iceland’s Landsbankinn. The system’s wall brackets were reinforced from three to five millimetres to fasten the basalt stone panels. In addition to the PI profiles, the experts at fischer BWM also specially developed black anodised massive ATK 103 LBI horizontal profiles for this project that were used together with the fischer BWM ATK 103 P20 clasps on the vertical ATK 101 base construction. Inserting the geometrically aligned forms consisting of the horizontal profile and clasps as well as the FZP II Zykon panel anchors 13 x 21 M8 / 9 Carbon installed on the reverse enables a concealed fastening of the façade elements. The façade’s loads that act on the horizontal profiles are transferred onto the vertical profile from where they are transferred into the load-bearing substrate. The stainless steel (R) fischer bolt anchor FAZ II and various fischer special anchors were used during the construction of the façade in addition to the FZP II undercut anchors. 

The building will create interesting public spaces in the center of Reykjavík and provide good access for pedestrians and cyclists alike The structured new build won’t just house Landsbankinn once it is completed in 2022. The bank will only take up 60 per cent of the 16,500 square metres of the office and commercial area in the building. The remaining area, primarily on the ground floor, is mostly designed for retail or as service space. The bank deliberately doesn't want to seal itself off from its surroundings with the new build, these spaces and paths are therefore intended to align with the local context. The building’s 3,500 square metre façade makes the ensemble transparent and symbolises the openness of the architecture, which interacts with the city while at the same time being closely linked with Iceland’s raw nature.   

fischer BWM façade systems are also being used on additional new builds in Reykjavik, not far from Iceland’s Landsbankinn, such as the Mariott Hotel and a luxury apartment building.