Long before the doors opened, the questions had already begun.
How will it feel?
How large is the main stage?
What will visitors, organizers, and partners actually experience inside the building?
For a landmark project like Sara kulturhus – one of the world’s tallest timber constructions and a future hub for culture, meetings, and performances – waiting for completion was not an option. Concerts, congresses, and collaborations needed to be secured years in advance. Stakeholders required something more powerful than drawings and static renders.
Tarvalley was asked to create a way to step inside the future.
We designed and developed a multi-user augmented reality platform where entire groups could explore the building together using tablets. Physical tracker markers were produced in the very same material as the structure itself – cross-laminated timber – reinforcing the tactile connection between model and reality.
By moving and rotating these markers, users could instantly look into different parts of the house. One moment standing above the main stage, the next floating through foyers, hotel environments, or conference spaces. Walls and roofs could be toggled on and off, perspectives changed, and detailed layers revealed.
But we wanted to go further than visualization.
Inside the AR environment, visitors could launch VR360 films, access architectural drawings, browse imagery, and review supporting documentation. What might otherwise require multiple meetings, slide decks, or technical explanations became intuitive and immediate.
For presenters, the system introduced a subtle but powerful advantage. One device controlled the narrative direction for everyone else. While participants experienced the meeting as open, playful, and exploratory, the host could guide attention, sequence information, and build momentum toward decisions.
It was storytelling disguised as freedom.
Behind the scenes, Tarvalley conceived the concept, designed every interaction, and processed vast amounts of CAD data that had to be re-engineered to function smoothly in real time. The experience was built in Unreal Engine and combined with Apple’s AR frameworks to achieve high visual fidelity, stability, and flexibility.
The result became a living presentation tool rather than a one-time demo – capable of evolving alongside the building and later expanding into public distribution channels across the municipality.
For Tarvalley, the project proved how emerging technology can shorten the distance between vision and commitment. By allowing people to experience a place before it exists, conversations change. Confidence increases. Decisions accelerate.
The future venue was no longer a promise.
It was right there on the table.
