The building was designed by the Swedish architects
Gert Wingårdh and Tomas Hansen, with John Jessen of VOA Associates in
Washington, D.C., as
architect of record. It has five floors and a total surface of . The front of the building is
glass. 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 600, and later at 1501
M Street N.W. The House of Sweden is designed in the
modernist style, with many
Scandinavian design elements; in addition to glass, the building features use of white stone and blond maple materials. The building was inaugurated on October 23, 2006, by
King Carl XVI Gustaf and
Queen Silvia. Also present at the inauguration were
Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and
Ambassador of Sweden to the United States Gunnar Lund. The Swedish rock band
The Ark performed at the ceremony. Gert Wingårdh received the Swedish national architecture award—the
Kasper Salin Prize—for House of Sweden in 2007. ==See also==