Villan, Helsingkrona nation

"Friends for life" is a new student housing concept that we have developed in close cooperation with Helsingkrona nation in Lund. The form of accommodation is most reminiscent of large apartments.

The villa at Helsingkrona Nation is an eight-storey building with a ten-room apartment on each floor. On the top floor there is a smaller version of the large apartment with five rooms. Each student has their own bedroom, toilet and shower, but shares the kitchen, dining area and living room. The generous common areas with spectacular ceiling heights are integrated into the layout in a completely different way to the traditional student corridor. There are balconies with growing spaces and a communal rooftop terrace with views for miles. On the ground floor, a restaurant serves as a soft interface between the students and the rest of the city.

The Villa has several clever features such as site-built furniture, recessed lighting and smart storage to minimize wear and tear when moving in and out, requiring less new purchases for new students.

The design of the Villa encourages meetings and socializing. But just as important as social sustainability is economic and ecological sustainability. The large apartments are extremely compact and weighted in favor of the common areas. In this way, the building's footprint and material consumption can be minimized and thus construction costs and rent.

The new building consists of 65 student apartments, a restaurant and common rooms. The villa is actually an extension to Sten Samuelsson's original student housing building Helsingkronagården, which was built in the 1950s. The project includes both the construction of the villa and the renovation of the facade of Helsingkronagården, returning it to its original all-white facade expression, although the balcony fronts are now made of sheet metal instead of the original white concrete, which became too heavy.

White sheet metal thus became a natural choice for Villan as well, but here in the form of cassettes of relatively thick and robust aluminum. At the same time, Villan continues the gradual shift to the east that Helsingkronagården is also designed with, which provides space to create a completely new square facing west.

In a nod to Helsingkrona's Tornet building, which was completed in 2014, the Villa has been given window surrounds and movable shutters in copper color. Naturally, this is a match for the Tower's copper facade. In this way, the villa combines both Sten Samuelsson's 50s and the Tower's 2010s.

We have assisted Helsingkrona nation all the way from idea to occupation. We have developed a new detailed plan in collaboration with Kristianstad Nation, Akademiska Hus and Svenska Hus who own the neighboring properties. FOJAB has also been responsible for designing the tender documents as an architect and general consultant. Subsequently, we have had a double assignment with a clear organizational division: we have been the client advisor for Helsingkrona nation and we have designed construction documents for the contractor.