Göingegeten

The locality of Dalby, located to the east of Lund in southern Sweden, boasts a history at least as long as the nearby city. A historic church situated high in the centre of town looks out over the southern Scanian landscape. Today, new residences are cropping up along the slope south of the town’s historic areas. The new residential zone with its broad streets has a suburban quality.

The gentle slope from Dalby continues far into the surrounding landscape.

Our client knew that they wanted to construct dwellings for rent on a generous plot in the area. The buildings should be suitable for self-management, as well as have a decidedly contemporary design. Garages were also an explicit request.

We situated four multiple-family dwellings that step down along the southern slope, each containing flats with separate storage space and a shared garage for residents. Each house has one shielded entrance side and a more open courtyard side with balconies and greater access to daylight. The main entrance sides of the two innermost houses face one another, thus creating an internal entrance lane that can double as a square. This arrangement allows for more effective use of the site than a series of single-family houses with individual parking would have.

Prefabricated concrete elements from the company Strängbetong were one of the client’s stipulations. In our collaboration, we strove to create a façade design that would take advantage of the various possibilities the construction method has to offer. The joints between the individual elements become part of the graphic expression. The window arrangement shifts between storeys to bring life to the façade. We chose to cast parts of the façade against a matrix with the quality of fabric folds. The matrix is an essential part of the project: the play of light on the concrete surface changes at different hours of the day and in different weather. In contrast to the material’s hardness, the surface appears soft and sensuous: The contrasts become more prominent in the sunlight, creating a series of stark lines. Some of the façade’s surfaces are painted the same colour as the window systems, accentuating the façade’s verticality as well as lending both warmth and colour. We also used white concrete, which creates a beautiful and durable surface.

Due to the buildings’ close proximity to one another, the landscaping of the surrounding land and gardens is an integral part of the project. We wanted to create green areas to contrast with the harder areas around the entrances. Trees are an important design component, and we look forward to seeing their crowns interact with the graphic language of the façade.

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Chief Architect: Johan Sundberg

Architects: Johan Sundberg Architecture and Blasberg Andréasson Architects / Johan Sundberg, Mattias Andréasson and Lars Blasberg

Associate Architect: Daniel Gerse

Structural Engineers: Pekka Kauhanen (Strängbetong, structure), Niklas Stéen (Conbytec, foundation)

Client: Stigborg Förvaltning AB / Pär Stigborg

Contractor: Byggom AB / Pär Stigborg

‍Photographer: Markus Linderoth (www.dancingcameras.com)

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