Sankt Mikael 16
A new apartment building has been added to Lund's thousand-year-old urban fabric in the middle of one of its oldest neighborhoods, Sankt Mikael. The new building connects well with the turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau house on one side and the 1860s two-storey house on the other, while the new building has its own unique character.
In the St. Michael block, one of Scandinavia's first Dominican monasteries was located in the Middle Ages. Over the centuries and until the 1950s, there were other buildings on the site. Then the last house was demolished and the area became a parking lot. On the other side of the street is the Museum of Culture with a beautiful stone wall and three tall trees facing the street.
The history, the unique urban environment and the central location have meant high demands from the municipality, authorities, organizations and the public regarding architectural design, detail and material qualities and adaptation to the surroundings.
Meeting the volumes of neighboring houses
The new building at Stora Algatan 6 is 2440 m² GFA above ground, spread over six floors, and has 610 m² GFA basement and underground parking, spread over two floors.
The building connects along Stora Algatan on one side at the height of the eaves of the Art Nouveau building and its steep roof slope. On the other side, the building meets its two-story neighbor with a narrow two-story building section. The latter subordinates itself to the volumes of the neighboring buildings while at the same time asserting itself well through its materiality.
The building's material and color palette is very much in keeping with the surrounding buildings, but the combination of these materials has given the building its own unique character. Facades are mainly plastered in light smooth plaster, but also have elements of cross-hammered granite and sandstone, copper, and oak in the entrance areas. In addition, there are painted wooden windows and tight wrought iron balcony railings whose rounded corners towards the street tie in with the soft Art Nouveau forms of the neighbouring house. On the roofs and in their detailing, there is more copper and dark, banded sheet metal.
Two different farm environments
The project includes two different courtyard environments. On the ground floor is the larger courtyard, which contains common areas for the building's residents and patios for three of the apartments. The courtyard has a good sun position and - inspired by the history of the monastery - contains a large number of different types of herbs.
The smaller courtyard is located one floor up at the intersection of the Art Nouveau house and the new building. This courtyard serves as a courtyard of light, but also as a quiet and green oasis to gaze at from the windows of the four surrounding facades. The ground is covered with shade plants planted around a cross-shaped walkway - again inspired by the history of the site.
Light housing
The homes are characterized by light and views. Already a few floors up, there are wide views of Lund's roofscape and the surrounding plains. Of the building's 19 apartments, 14 are large apartments with three to six rooms and kitchens of 100-137 m². Three of the largest apartments are located at the very top of the roof with sometimes extra high room volumes. One of these apartments is also on two levels and has a large roof terrace on the upper level with views for miles.
The remaining five apartments are space-efficient one- and two-room apartments of 32-40 m². All of the building's apartments except the one one-bedroom apartment have at least one private balcony or patio.
Underground parking
It was clear early on that car parking was a challenge for the project. The solution was a car elevator combined with a semi-automatic parking system that stacks the cars on up to three levels underground. Parking for around 60 bicycles is located in the ground floor interior and is accessed via a ramp from the street.
