Bona Terra is revitalizing urban life in Brunnshög

With 258 rental apartments, retail, services, restaurants, and fitness facilities all located within a single neighborhood, Bona Terra will help create a lively atmosphere around Brunnshögstorget throughout much of the day and evening. The mixed-use complex in Lund, developed by ICA Fastigheter and designed by FOJAB, is now being inaugurated.

Brunnshög is emerging as a new neighborhood in northeast Lund, near Max IV and ESS. When fully developed, up to 40,000 people will live and work here. Bona Terra is one of the neighborhood’s most prominent blocks, situated at the back of the neighborhood square and featuring several central amenities.

On the ground floor, a grocery store serves as a daily hub for the neighborhood. Facing the square are entrances to additional stores, a pharmacy, and a liquor store. One floor up, a gym is located behind large windows, and the block also features a restaurant with outdoor seating where you can enjoy the evening sun.

The upper floors house 258 apartments, many of which are smaller in size and suitable for young people, students, and researchers, but there are also larger apartments for families with children and groups of friends. This mix of housing makes the neighborhood part of the dense, social, and knowledge-intensive district that Brunnshög is intended to become.

“With Bona Terra, we are reconnecting with an urban planning tradition found in older city centers, featuring a wide variety of businesses on the ground floors and strong design concepts for entire blocks,” says Andreas Jentsch, the lead architect at FOJAB.

Bona Terra is characterized by architecture that is robust as a whole but rich in detail upon closer inspection. The neighborhood consists of two L-shaped building blocks of varying heights, ranging from six to eight stories, with folded roofs fitted with solar panels and greenery. The facades are constructed using a few carefully selected materials, with brick playing the leading role.

Great care has been taken to create depth in the facades through recessed niches, window surrounds, French balconies, and details that create a sense of relief. The play of light and shadow gives the building an appearance that changes throughout the day, making it an interesting sight to behold both from a distance and while walking by.

The design of Bona Terra is based on a comprehensive sustainability program that focuses on energy efficiency, as well as social and ecological benefits. Behind the urban facades lies a spacious and sunny courtyard featuring planting beds, a conservatory, communal gathering areas, and lush greenery with meadows—habitats specially adapted for pollinators such as solitary bees.

“In dense urban environments, shared outdoor spaces become especially important. Here, we wanted to create a courtyard that is truly used and appreciated in everyday life,” says Malin Ingemarsdotter, lead landscape architect at FOJAB.

The building will be environmentally certified under the Miljöbyggnad Silver standard.