From city gas to city life - FOJAB updates the heritage-listed Gasverket

The Gasworks area in Stockholm's Norra Djurgårdsstaden has no cultural-historical equivalent in Sweden. FOJAB has been commissioned to develop several of the memorialized industrial buildings for a new use.

- "It's a fantastic project and a huge vote of confidence," says lead architect Ylva Åborg. "At FOJAB, we have extensive experience of working with listed buildings, but this could be the jewel in the crown.

The Gasverk area on northern Djurgården produced city gas for heat, light and cooking for Stockholmers for over a hundred years. It was planned and designed by the architect Ferdinand Boberg, a prestigious project that demonstrated industrial innovation and forward thinking. The area illustrates the history of industrial architecture, from the solid brick buildings of the 19th century, through the steel structures of the gas blocks from the 1910s and 1930s, to the more modern architecture of the fission gas plant from the 1970s.

In 2011, gas production ceased. The Gasverksom area is now being developed by CA Fastigheter together with the City of Stockholm with the ambition that the previously closed industrial area will be opened up and become a vibrant and open urban environment.

The detailed plan for the phase known as östra Gasverket has gained legal force and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 7. At the same time, work will begin on transforming the older listed industrial buildings, a task assigned to FOJAB. Some of the buildings in the plan area were designed by Boberg in the 1890s. Others are of a later date, such as a steam power station from the late 1940s.

- The first step in our work is a feasibility study that will provide answers to what new content the old buildings can be filled with," says Max Zotterman, the architect in charge of the project.

The feasibility study and program document will be completed this spring. The city's ambition is for the entire Gasverk area to open after 2030.