The Swedish city of Varberg found out the hard way that it needed a new water tower. The local water system sprang a leak, and the city had to tap into its backup water supply, about 525,000 gallons stored in a utilitarian UFO-shaped concrete water tower near the center of town. But the volume of water inside that tower, built in the 1960s, was not enough to meet the demands of a city that has seen its population nearly triple to 35,000 over the past 60 years. The water company eventually fixed its leak, and taps started flowing again, but the city knew it needed a better vessel for water security.

That’s how Varberg, a coastal city south of Gothenburg, built what may be the world’s most stunning water tower. Cast in stark concrete and perched atop a small hill, the water tower has the unusual form of a long and narrow rectangle propped up on nine slender pillars. Scalloped along its lengths with subtle curves that recall waves of the nearby coast, the water tower is a radical departure from the bulbous and cylindrical tanks found in cities around the world.

Designed by the Scandinavian architecture firm White Arkitekter, the tower for Varberg has reinvented the water tower typology in the face of new demands and through new technology.

The tower has been operational since late 2024, but its design dates back to........

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