Sweden's largest youth center in Hässleholm is inaugurated

People in the center, open and closed units, overlapping functions and varying security classes have been in focus when FOJAB has designed a new youth home in Hässleholm. The building connects to the previous building's architecture and materiality in a new way.

On behalf of Specialfastigheter and Statens Institutionsstyrelse, FOJAB has designed a new youth center in Hässleholm where Stage 1 is now completed and inaugurated. The project has included new construction of four departments and staff and training facilities. The new home has room for 40 young people who need care according to LVU. The young people receive help with investigation, discussions and treatment in parallel with school education.

The building embodies a complexity of overlapping functions and varying levels of security with rooms for living, school and work.

- In close dialogue with both clients and users, we have developed a spatial organization with a varied identity to create the best conditions for the interaction of different and overlapping functions. Young people in a particularly vulnerable situation come here, and care for people has been central to the design. The architect has a social responsibility and we always work with people at the center, says Sune Nilsson, responsible architect at FOJAB.

The new building is designed with light-colored brick and wood paneling - simple and sustainable natural materials that are durable and age beautifully and blend into the environment. The facade reflects the need for openness and enclosure, where the heavy brick wall is broken by the school's wooden volumes and where slats shield from view but allow light to enter. The courtyards with color and greenery create the necessary pause.

- "Our aim has been to interpret the architecture and materiality of the existing facility in a new way, while respecting the materials that make up the previous facility. This creates a clearer connection and adaptation to the site with the functional architecture of the new main building," says Sune Nilsson, responsible architect at FOJAB.

The accommodation and administration departments form the outer wall surrounding the school, with two axes of knowledge breaking through the wall in some places. The wooden axes of knowledge are lighter and brighter, and more inviting and open for young people to approach. A figurative and literal way out.

The project's environmental objective has been Miljöbyggnad Gold.