Vänersborg District Court

FOJAB is designing a new court building in Vänersborg - a sharply cut volume that has been processed in relation to its program content and at the same time relates to its urban situation.

THE PLACE
The new court is located directly adjacent to one of Vänersborg's most important entrances and clearly advertises itself as you move along Edsvägen towards the city center. The court will be part of a context of solitary institutional buildings such as Gamla Lasarettet with, among other things, Vänerparkens skola and Habiliteringsmottagningen and Trons kapell.

The new court building contributes to the transition between the block structure of the city center and the green park environment. The three-storey building opens up to the south and interacts with the park. New trees and plantings further strengthen the connection. The building's entrances for the various needs of the business are oriented in relation to safety, function and flows.

HUMANITY
By withdrawing the building from the property line, surfaces are created that meet people's need to stay and move around the new court building. The base will be terraced to manage height differences and to increase the quality of the streetscape. We establish plantings with terraced seating-friendly retaining walls that also enhance orientation.

The main entrance is marked by a large tree and three-storey glazing and the recessed volume. A successive sequence of entrances and a respectful entrance square allow people to enter, stay and leave the building in a dignified manner. The court's generous waiting room is located one floor up. The facade opens up with large areas of glass, exposing the interior of the building, and the public spaces interact with the park space on the opposite side of the street. The fact that the public areas are located one floor above street level provides a distance and a respectful distance that creates integrity for the sensitive situation that visitors to the building may find themselves in.

The court building houses around 130 workplaces, 11 courtrooms, including two security rooms, security control with an adjoining reception area, public areas, staff offices, transport and rooms for detainees. The district court will have separate entrances to all rooms and separate flows throughout the building, with separate escape routes.

FORMS
The building's design language is basically simple, where the volume is processed with a few character-creating touches. This without losing the weight and authority required to be an important representative of a sound legal system.

A green ceramic façade defines the identity of the court building and its relationship to the city, with its green copper roofs and the greenery of the surrounding parkland. The ceramic panels are slightly curved, creating effective shadows on the facade - a bit like the ripple of water on Lake Vänern. Beauty is combined with durability and efficient construction.

The facade is designed with horizontal bands that give a clear presentation of the room volumes inside. Vertical profiles that create a rhythm in relation to the underlying program and between these alternate glass and dense areas, well balanced to handle views, daylight and the high environmental ambitions. The desired degree of transparency and privacy is also regulated here. With a rational modular system and a high degree of prefabrication in the facade and frame, the building's complex program and volumes are managed.

Mörrum school

Mörrums skola is a primary school for grades F-6 with 630 pupils. The school is located in the center of Mörrum and is an important meeting place for the local community. The project has had a strong focus on dialog with politicians, officials, educators and students. Early in the project, a project vision was developed that has guided the project throughout the process. It emphasized the importance of the child perspective permeating the design of the physical environment.

Schoolhouse
By gathering the activities in smaller interconnected two-story volumes, the school building interacts with the existing small-scale buildings in Mörrum and suddenly the large building volume is transformed into the children's scale. The facades are in sinusoidal profiled sheet metal that alludes to the classic falu red cottage in Blekinge. In front of the school building is a generous and welcoming entrance deck with several exterior entrances to both the first and second floors. There is a closeness between outside and inside and the project's motto has been: When you open the door, you have arrived!

Inside, the school building has an experiential learning environment consisting of a palette of different sized rooms and different types of rooms. There is a variation in room volume that creates both safe corners and social micro places. The aim has been to have zero tolerance for corridors - everything should be a learning environment. There are seven home areas in the school building where the school and after-school activities can jointly use all areas. On the second floor, with a fantastic view, are the workshops for arts and crafts, music room, library and canteen. The school is shoe-free and great emphasis has been placed on creating well-functioning flows between inside and outside and between the dormitories and the common areas, without unnecessary running through the quieter parts of the school.

Sports hall
Alongside the school building, a full-sized, divisible sports hall is being built that can be shared in the evenings and weekends by the culture and leisure administration and the municipality's sports clubs. The sports hall has the same design as the school building and a welcoming main entrance facing Mörrum.

Schoolyard
The schoolyard is designed according to the children's wishes. For a whole semester, the pupils worked on their thoughts and ideas about the "Dream Schoolyard of the Future". All ideas were presented with drawings, films and physical models that then formed the basis for the design of the schoolyard.

Dialogue with children
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to have a say in matters affecting them and to have their views taken into account. In the fall of 2022, we conducted a walk with students in Mörrum to find out how they feel about their new school. We wanted to hear the children's views on what works and what doesn't, if they have suggestions for improvement, how they experience and use different parts of their school. All this feedback will help us make sure we've got it right and understand what we can do better next time. Another goal of the walk was to increase children's interest in architecture and create positive feelings about how to use their influence.

Trikåfabriken

In a former knitwear factory from 1901 at Möllevången in Malmö, we have, together with Stena fastigheter, developed and converted the entire property into new office space. The renovation has been done with a careful hand to recreate as much of the building's original character as possible. Reuse has been central both in terms of the building, the outdoor environment and the interior design.

Luminaires, windows, wooden floors and plaster walls have been renovated and restored. The reuse of space has been encouraged, for example, masonry walls and sections have been recovered and used to rebuild new interior walls. Waste materials have been turned into outdoor furniture and bicycle racks, and details such as rosette valves have become character-enhancing features of the whole.

It was important to maintain the sense of space of the old factory premises. All electricity has been concealed and installations in the ceiling have been minimized. There are no large, winding ventilation systems here; ventilation has been kept down as far as possible. Both to give the rooms a cleaner look with high ceilings and to save energy. Flexibility has been a key concept for the building to have a long life, but also to be able to easily adapt it for different activities today and in the future.

The exterior of the knitwear factory has been restored to its original appearance. 1960s windows in poor condition have been replaced with newly manufactured ones, identical to the original windows but with a discreet intermediate sunscreen. The building has been updated to meet modern regulatory requirements for accessibility and fire, which has been solved with as few new additions as possible.

In one of the larger premises, we have designed and furnished our own office. The layout is adapted to our way of working with fewer desks, the possibility of grouping in different ways, several different types of meeting rooms and large social areas. The entrance room is the heart of the office, which with its large space on three levels opens up for joint activities, meetings, work, lunch rooms, seminars and parties!

The materials are few and recurring, with the existing board floor being an important element to give a feeling and character to the space. Other materials such as steel partitions, birch plywood, wooden ceilings, stone, carpets and textiles are chosen to be long-lasting and age beautifully. A new luminaire has been developed in collaboration with Ateljé Lyktan; an energy-saving version of the industrial lamps that once illuminated the factory.

The common courtyard is designed to allow everyone working in the different buildings to meet easily and spontaneously. There are areas suitable for various activities or just hanging out, including a shared roof terrace, table tennis tables and car-free areas for movement, play and creative workshops.

Trikåfabriken is one of Sweden's first redevelopment projects to be climate calculated. To ensure long-term sustainable environmental and climate benefits, the building has been certified according to the standard Miljöbyggnad in Operation level Gold.

Gränden

Offerkällan is a popular Million Program area in northern Lund with apartments in two-story buildings designed by Sten Samuelsson. FOJAB, on behalf of Lund's municipal real estate company, LKF, has developed Offerkällan with eight new buildings called Gränden.

It has been important to take advantage of the fine qualities of the area and at the same time improve what does not work as well. With well-balanced placement, strong form and high quality materials and detailing, the new houses have become a boost for the whole area.

In classic sixties fashion, the road through Offerkällan was lowered into a ditch. Traffic was kept separate from the residents, but it also meant that the area was effectively split in two. To heal the two parts, six of the new houses have been placed along the previously submerged road. What used to be a desolate asphalt ditch with garage entrances for cars has been transformed into a safe and pleasant urban street for pedestrians and multiple modes of transport with more and different types of entrances, windows and porticos.

The new development is higher than the existing one, but connects to the lower buildings through a two-storey arm at one end of the street. Townhouses on the ground floor provide nice micro-environments and an increased variety of housing qualities. Porticos across the buildings create new sight lines, increase transparency and open up the area.

The houses are built with solid, genuine materials that will age beautifully and last a long time. The level of detailing is consistently high, for example with roll changes on the cold walls, which means that no sheet metal coverings are needed. The high quality can be seen and felt, these are houses that can be approached.

Named the best new construction project in the public sector in 2023.

Finalist for the CBA Housing Award 2023

Kindergarten Hofs Park

Hofs park preschool in Växjö is a stylish, fun and playful little gem. Completely unique in its expression and with a strong focus on children.

The environments are rich in experiences, even for younger children. The facade with its large dens can be partially climbed, and indoors there are lofts and huts to play in. At the same time, the preschool is a safe place and a work-friendly environment with good light and surfaces that are easy to monitor.

The preschool with five departments is built in solid wood, which gives a warm, cozy and genuine feeling with a pleasant sound environment. The level of detail is high with fine material encounters.

The preschool is part of a larger development area that also includes sheltered housing and housing. The buildings form a ring around a communal park. FOJAB is responsible for the design of both buildings and landscape as a result of a land allocation competition.

Factories

The idea for The Factory was born out of a desire to recreate the qualities of old factory environments converted into offices.

High ceilings, robust and hard-wearing materials, visible installations and large, mullioned glass sections give Fabriken both a retro feel and make the building well equipped for the changing needs and new demands that will be placed on attractive premises in the future.

The façade is characterized by simplicity and the dominant material is recycled brick. It is almost as if an old factory has been dismantled and rebuilt. The building is climate calculated according to the LFM30 methodology and has been certified according to Miljöbyggnad.

The Fabriken office building has been built together with The Sun Quarter Mobility House.

World Trade Center Karlskrona

On November 10, 2021, Karlskrona's World Trade Center was inaugurated, the portal building in the new central district of Pottholmen. A five-storey office building with a facade of folded corten steel, alluding to the area's industrial history.

Pottholmen is in the process of being transformed from a closed railway yard area to Karlskrona's new entrance. The World Trade Center, designed by FOJAB in collaboration with property owner OBOS Kärnhem, gives the city a new meeting point in a strategic location next to the travel center and railway square. A modern and flexible office building with a strong environmental focus.

The main architectural elements are drawn from the surroundings: the shipyard, military history and the archipelago. The building takes the form of a classic city block with simple volumes around a leafy courtyard. The composition of the façade borrows from Karlskrona's historic street scenes, while a band of low windows creates bright, comfortable rooms.

The rustic and robust corten steel anchors the house to the site, alluding both to Falu's red color and the city's history of boat building and shipbuilding. The steel withstands the coastal climate well and will only get more beautiful over the years.

Sun Quarter Mobility House

Kintsugi is the Japanese word for the tradition of repairing broken pottery with gold so that the crack helps to make the broken piece more beautiful.

In the Solkvarteret mobility building, we have decorated the horizontal cracks between the parking lots with an ornate metal grid. The area between the grid is covered with a bottle-green facade with active solar cells that make the building self-sufficient in energy for much of the year. On the ground floor there is a larger room, bicycle parking with changing rooms and showers, and a delivery center for e-commerce and grocery bags. The mobility house is built together with the Fabriken office building.

The Solar Quarter has been awarded the Skåne Solar Award 2022.

Axis borders

Axis' new office is located in the Ideon area outside Lund, a research village that is currently undergoing an exciting development. On behalf of Axis Communication, FOJAB has designed the block that will be a workplace for 1300 people. The building has a strong identity and character and is designed according to the company's needs and wishes. The block will be an exciting new meeting place where sustainable working life is at the center.

Axis' new office in Lund consists of a continuous building that is divided into several building bodies of varying heights that interact with each other. The main entrance is placed in the corner of the block facing the Ideon area and inside there is a large, bright common entrance square with space for exhibitions, meetings and mingling. A generous staircase leads to the Axis restaurant and further up to the common, green courtyard. The crowning glory is a skylounge and a spacious roof terrace with a 360-degree view of the Scanian landscape.

The exterior of the facade is designed to meet sustainability requirements while giving the area a new face. The facade consists of a heavy natural stone-clad base with light glass facades with white, angled slats on top. This creates a complex design language that gives the building different expressions as you pass by. The design of the interacting building volumes creates sound barriers and fantastic outdoor environments.

Once inside the building, visitors and employees are greeted by light, which is a recurring theme, while natural materials such as limestone and wood provide a warm and cozy feeling. The office is designed with great attention to detail and the spaces are tailored to Axis' needs with both traditional cellular offices and open plan offices with plenty of light. The office is designed with a number of different spatialities to suit different types of meetings and create conditions for creativity and innovation - important core values in Axis' corporate culture.

The block is part of the city planning office's objective to transform the research village Ideon Science Park in Lund into a city with clear blocks and sunny meeting places for everyone who works, researches or visits Ideon.

The work environment is designed with a sustainable working life in focus, and opportunities for sustainable travel have also been an important prerequisite. Each employee gets their own Axis bike, which can be cycled straight down into a garage with shower and changing rooms, and a gym with a glass roof that connects the gym to the common areas above.

The building takes on a challenge in the city of the future and urban planning where a site along traffic routes has now been transformed into a new landmark in Lund and home to many employees. The location of the building in a difficult urban environment with traffic routes around it was a challenge that has been solved with many roof terraces and a sheltered courtyard that enables meetings even outside the building.

Award:
Lund Municipality Urban Design Award 2021
Sweden's most beautiful office in 2020

The document

The block is located at the crossroads between the dense inner city block structure and the sparse institutional and residential buildings, which has characterized the design of the block. The building consists of five buildings, each with its own identity, to reflect the context of an urban structure that has developed over a long period of time. The corner in the southwest is accentuated with both the height of the building and the public entrance and activities on the ground floors, while the eastern building body stands with its gable towards Brunnsgatan and extends into the park.

The buildings consist of simple, buildable volumes of 3-6 floors based on the neat brick architecture of the area. Each building volume will have its own individual design with brick color and joint, roof shape, balcony and window design to counteract repetition and instead achieve clarity and a site-specific variation. The separate building bodies provide good opportunities for a phased implementation.

All apartments have balconies or generous terraces in good directions, clearly separated from the public space. The apartments are compact without sacrificing well-proportioned rooms, good lighting conditions and functional dimensions. Throughout the project there is a variation in both apartment sizes and variants of a particular apartment type. The advantages of repetition in the production phase are weighed against the individual wishes of the tenant.

In addition to apartment buildings, the block contains a nursing and care home integrated into one of the residential buildings, premises for LKF and a meeting point for seniors in the corner of the ground floor facing the city.

Docks

At the entrance to the harbor, Docks, Malmö's new landmark, is being built. Two slender structures that from certain angles seem to merge together. Glazed balconies float above the dock like the control cabins of the cranes once seen at the Kockum shipyard.

The characteristic feature of the Docks is the two tapered towers that relate to their surroundings in shape and height. In the east towards the harbor basin, the building is at its highest, 26 floors. Towards Dockplatsen and the guest harbor, it steps down to 18 floors, ending in a 5-story base that connects to the surrounding buildings and Isberg Street.

The new building closes the Dock Square to the east, creating a sheltered space where the folded and stepped shape of the Dock dampens the winds from the sea. The towers angle themselves to meet different urban spaces, and at the same time mark the eastern and western gates of the block.

The ground floor contains public spaces for services, shops and restaurants. An atrium accessed from all commercial spaces becomes the heart and focal point of the building. The upper section contains wood-clad galleries leading to residential, guest apartments and community spaces.

The house bodies are clad with balconies that have a weatherproof and robust facade of hot-dip galvanized sheet metal. Galvanization provides a crystalline coating that protects the metal underneath while providing subtle shifts in tone and shine. The joints of the sheet metal play with the rhythm of the balcony edges and on the northern facades the sheet metal folds like salt crystals. The expression is sharp, nuanced and rooted in the history of the site.

There will be a total of 157 homes in the building and a garden with terraces shared by the residents will be built on the roof of the base. A southwest-facing sun shelf is created with plenty of shelter and a lush beach landscape. Seating areas, winding paths and wooden bridges intertwine the terraces.

Exterior and interior are markedly different in Docks. Inside the cool metal facade, residents and visitors are greeted by warm lighting and wood. Here, too, the association is with shipping and the many ships once built at the Kockum shipyard, whose metal hulls concealed cozy wooden cabins.