Kjellander Sjoberg has revealed plans to transform the historical building Gjuteriet into an innovative, open public meeting place. Located in the Varvstaden district, a new sustainable neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, the project will become a contemporary and versatile work environment. Fitting 300 workspaces across 4,600 sq. m., the building also includes meeting rooms, open lounges, conference rooms, a conservatory, studios, exhibition spaces, a test kitchen, and wellness facilities.
Reinterpreting the original scale, the former shipbuilding industry will become a vibrant creative hub. Kjellander Sjoberg’s proposal presents new unexpected spatial experiences and proposes a flexible structure. Activating the surroundings, the design “introduces new connections and places public activities on the ground floor, supporting the development of the emerging city life”.
Part of a joint vision of Varvsstaden and the City of Malmö, the Gjuteriet, an example of rational industrial architecture, is currently in a state of ruin. Originally built in 1910 as a foundry producing metal castings for ship machinery and bridge parts, the project will undergo a reinterpretation of its architectural heritage, creating unconventional compositions. Making use of recycled and upcycled materials recovered from demolitions in the area, the building also puts in place a timber intervention to reduce the load put on the existing structure and the need for a new foundation.
Designing a new building envelope with a distinct tectonic solution, “the original openings are reintroduced, exposing the brick wall to the interior whilst adding an entirely new insulated façade from recycled brick reclaimed from recently demolished Kockum’s buildings on the outside”. For the East façade, the original expression with large openings is preserved, using rectangular curtain walls with modular division aligned to the main loadbearing structure, “a steel frame wrapped in longitudinal modular brick facades and crowned by intricate bell-gables with decorative red brick and white limestone patterns”.
Preserving the spatial quality of the large hall, the added timber structure is detached from the walls and hung from the roof. Two of the newly introduced volumes are hung from the remaining overhead crane runways to decrease the need for supporting columns and thus allowing for free open programming on the ground floor. Creating diverse spaces suitable for new programs, the intervention generates a long-term, healthy, and sustainable work environment. With one continuous space, the project aims to connect and create a community.
- Programme: Workplace, Restaurant, Café
- Status: Ongoing
- Year: 2019-2023, on site 2020
- Site: Varvsstaden, Malmö
- Client: Varvsstaden
- Contractor: PEAB
- Size: 6030 sq m
- Collaboration: Sted Landskap, BK Konsult, Matter by Brix
- Tenant: Oatly
- Partner in charge: Stefan Sjöberg
- Team: Johan Pitura, Hannes Haak, Sylvia Neiglick, Simon Estié, Sebastian Mardi, Per Hedefält, Michael Westerlund, Susanna Bremberg, Stefan Rydin, Karin Lindström
