FOJAB and Peab win prestigious land allocation competition in Jönköping.

Together with Peab, FOJAB has developed the winning proposal for the land allocation competition for a new neighborhood in Jönköping. The proposal is a residential neighborhood with a strong focus on social sustainability, public activities and invites for life-long living.

In April 2020, Jönköping municipality invited a land allocation competition to develop the Öljetten block in the new Skeppsbron district in Jönköping. The land allocation had a clear objective; a strong and clear idea of socially sustainable urban development and how to let it characterize the block.

The winning proposal, The Secret Garden, will be a residential neighborhood with a strong focus on social sustainability. The ambition of the project has been to create a neighborhood that invites living for a lifetime. The proposal includes different types of housing that are adaptable to the life situation. Special focus has been placed on meeting young people's needs for their own accommodation, security and social meetings. Among other things, the block will have a higher proportion of small apartments than a conventional housing project, with around 45% of the homes being one room. This enables young people to have their own accommodation at a reasonable cost.

- "We are very happy to be involved in creating the Öljetten block together with FOJAB. It is gratifying that Jönköping municipality has such a high level of ambition in terms of social sustainability. Our ambition is to create a safe, socially sustainable and exciting neighborhood that invites residents of all ages. It will be a neighborhood to meet and socialize in. We have a challenge in our industry to find apartment solutions that are more flexible with regard to the different stages of life than the traditional 1s, 2s and 3s. We hope to demonstrate this here," says Annike Thorén, District Manager at Peab.

The Öljetten block is a classic city block based on simple volumes in a robust frame. The block is given different characters, which provides the conditions for ground floors that spill out onto the street and various social functions that are added to urban life. Health, movement and common places for activity have been important aspects of the design proposal. The neighborhood will have many public activities and social functions such as a guest apartment, laundry lounge, coworking and bicycle workshop. In addition, there is "The Secret Garden", the pocket park, which is a lush, green oasis to which Jönköping residents are invited. The private courtyard life is lifted up to the roof where opportunities are provided for cultivation, physical activity and everyday movement.

Motivation of the jury:
"The Secret Garden is a very elaborate and fine proposal that has many basic qualities in structure, design and housing and that fits in well with the idea of what Skeppsbron should be in the future. The strength of the winning proposal in the issue of social sustainability is primarily about the focus on young people's housing and the desire to involve young people in the design of the neighborhood's common environments. There is also an exciting focus on health and movement in the proposal, also a key issue in a time of increased sedentary behavior among young people."