Lego-style sky homes: The 'curious' new towers that are a social media sensation in Stockholm

Forget thinking outside the box. In Stockholm, thinking inside the box – or towering pile of boxes, to be more precise – is generating a whole lot of buzz.

Norra Tornen, translated in English to Northern Towers, are a pair of skyscrapers that will rise 30 and 35 storeys in the Hagastaden district.

Designed by Dutch firm OMA for developer Oscar Properties, the twin towers will be the tallest residential project in inner Stockholm.

While the height is an obvious standout feature, it’s the design that’s really getting people excited, if the #norratornen tag on Instagram is any indication. More than 1000 posts – many from admiring locals – document the construction progress, with effusive captions such as “Can’t help be impressed”, “Modern pyramid in the making” and “New architecture masterpiece”.

Built using a technique reminiscent of Lego, minus the eye-watering colour scheme, the towers are characterised by bay windows and recessed terraces laid out to create a rising zigzag pattern.

One of the inspirations was the Canadian architect Moshe Safdie’s radical housing designs from the 1960s, the most famous of which is Habitat 67 in Montreal.

For Australian observers, there are echoes of Sydney’s Sirius building.

According to the developer, Norra Tornen will act as an architectural gateway to Stockholm and represent a hub between the urban district Vasastaden and the burgeoning Hagastaden neighbourhood.

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The first tower, Innovationen‚ was completed in August and includes 182 apartments. Nearly all have sold. The second building, Helix, is expected to open in 2020 and will house 138 apartments. Prices range from 5.5 million SEK (about $825,000) for a one-bedroom unit to 45 million SEK ($6.74 million) for the four-bedroom penthouse.

Reinier de Graaf, chief architect at OMA, says light plays an important role in Scandinavian lives and homes, particularly because of the darkness that descends on the city for part of the year.

“At Norra Tornen, light and also the feeling of being outside is a key part of the architecture,” de Graaf says.

For the facade, the architect wanted to “escape from the symmetrical blocks” that dominate contemporary urban architecture.

“The pixelated character of Norra Tornen differentiates the towers from all their surroundings and gives the buildings a visual life that makes them curious to the human eye.”

Like many historic city centres, Stockholm’s oldest buildings fall on the warm side of the colour scale, dating from the turn of the 20th century to the 1930s. Norra Tornen’s facade is made of rough-hewn, stone-mixed concrete in a sand-coloured finish. “You look out and up towards a development that softens and warms Stockholm’s silhouette,” de Graaf says.

The founder and CEO of Oscar Properties, Oscar Engelbert, describes the towers as the most innovative housing project in Stockholm for many years.

“My impression is that the city of Stockholm is very excited about the project,” Engelbert says.