FOJAB architects in innovation project

At Norra Älvstranden in Gothenburg, a new neighborhood for about 60,000 people is emerging. FOJAB architects, together with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU Alnarp and Ekologigruppen, have been selected to participate in a parallel assignment for sustainable ideas and innovative technology for the part of the area that includes Lindholmen Science Park. The theme of the assignment is "Functional use of greenery and water".

Lindholmshamnen is located in the middle of Lindholmen Science Park, an old shipyard area that is now a very expansive part of central Gothenburg. The existing buildings in the area house about 300 high-tech, innovative companies that form a cluster together with research and academia. The area will now be supplemented with housing and local services and the organizer's ambition is to tie in with this innovative environment. The program area is assumed to contain 450 apartments in about 14 multi-storey buildings and three city villas with associated land, as well as premises and preschools on the ground floors and a restaurant on the quayside.

At Lindholmen, the heavy shipbuilding industry has been replaced by Lindholmen Science Park, a world-leading arena for research, innovation and education in mobile internet, intelligent vehicles and transportation systems, and modern media and design. The main purpose of Lindholmen Science Park is to be an arena that stimulates cooperation between companies, academia and society. Today there are over 300 companies with a total of more than 9000 employees. Every day, nearly 20,000 people come to Lindholmen to study or work. Lindholmshamnen is part of Lindholmen Science Park and will include housing, retail, restaurants and a preschool to connect the area and make it more urban.

Norra Älvstranden was originally agricultural land that was gradually used for port purposes. As early as the 1500s, naval ships were built at a shipyard at Slottsberget. In the mid-19th century, the shipyard era started in Gothenburg and the area began to be seriously used as a port for large ships and several industries grew up. The three major shipyards on the riverbank were established between 1845-1867 and consisted of Götaverken, Lindholmens Varv and Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad. In 1874, the two riverbanks were permanently connected when the Hisingsbron bridge was built. When the shipyard era ended in the late 1970s, empty buildings and unused land remained. Port operations switched to container traffic and new major ports were built further west.

In the mid-1980s, work began on revitalizing Norra Älvstranden. A quality program was drawn up and a new master plan for the 250-hectare area between the bridges. Now a whole new city is taking shape along the river banks.

The parallel assignment is arranged by the consortium behind Lindholmshamnen; Älvstranden Utveckling AB, HSB Göteborg, Peab Sverige and Skanska Nya Hem.