21/8/2017 Utopia The S:t Erik Indoor Park

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High quality non-commercial

public space
The strong focus in recent years on production of new homes has Municipality Stockholm

increasingly meant that we have devoted far too little attention to Location S:t Eriksplan
Client Utopia Ideas
what is happening between the buildings and with our public
Type Public space
spaces. S:t Erik's indoor park is a concrete proposal for how we
Year 2017
want to create a non-commercial public indoor environment for
play, socialising, contemplation and cultural experiences which
can be used for a large part of the day, all year round. The park is
the rst in a series of proposals for Stockholm's development, Share on Share on Image
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which we are calling Utopia Ideas. The project is co-nanced by the
Swedish Federation of Glazing Contractors
(Glasbranschfreningen) and the Swedish Wood Building Council
(Trbyggnadskansli).

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Why an indoor park?

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21/8/2017 Utopia The S:t Erik Indoor Park

Why an indoor park?

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The more of us there are who have to be able to associate and share experiences
outside our homes, the better our public spaces need to be designed to be able to
meet the future's major and more complex needs. Stockholm, and many other
cities, has a major need for more non-commercial public indoor environments.
People who want to get together in an indoor environment outside the home are
today, with the possible exception of libraries and certain museums, almost
exclusively directed to commercial environments such as shopping malls,
restaurants and cafs. The increasingly commercialised inner city means that, for
purely economic reasons, large groups of people are circumscribed in their options
for socialising outside the home.
Increasing the number of non-commercial spaces is a desire and an ambition
which is also clearly expressed in Promenadstaden (the Walkable City), the current
structure plan for Stockholm City. Yet we are seeing very little of the development.
It is clear that the city needs an injection of strong ideas and concrete realisable
projects to manage this. S:t Erik's indoor park is one example of a solution which
can create these badly needed environments. S:t Eriksplan is a potentially suitable
location, even though the need for these environments is naturally at least as great
in many other parts of the city, not least in its outer areas. We would like our park
not just to be viewed as a proposal for what can be done specically in S:t Eriksplan,
but rather as the start of a wider discussion on how we can and should manage our
existing, and not least future, public environments.

An indoor park, what's that?

S:t Erik's indoor park is a public space for play, socialising, contemplation and
cultural experiences. A completely ordinary park, though under a roof, where we all
have access on equal terms. The park oers vegetation, warmth and a welcoming
environment, all year round and for a large part of the day.
The controlled indoor environment makes the indoor park attractive as a place for
functions and activities which are currently dicult to accommodate during the
cold and dark part of the year. We believe that the park here can meet a major need
in both the local area as well as throughout the city.

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21/8/2017 Utopia The S:t Erik Indoor Park

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S:t Erik's indoor park is a public space for play, socialising, contemplation and cultural experiences.

An arena for culture and

educational activities
The building will have facilities and space for stage performances and education. A
large number of the city's municipal cultural and educational activities can have a
new premises at their disposal here at a limited cost. We envisage meetings of
authors with readings, preschool visits with ower planting, theatrical
performances, consultation meetings for urban development issues, school
concerts, meetings of associations, art exhibitions, children's theatre, guest
performances from other arts centres, civic dialogue, debates, urban cultivation
courses, outdoor cinema The park will not least be a valuable asset for
preschools' and schools' educational work with the focus on ecology and
understanding our environment and the surrounding world. Just like the city's
other parks, St Erik's indoor park will be an arena for all ages and interests. The
only limits to what the premises can be used for are set by the imagination.
With the aim of nding a form for collaboration and management that can cover
certain running costs, we want to investigate the possibilities to, in conjunction
with the municipality, produce potential proposals for dierent forms of social
enterprise which can utilise the park and its possibilities in order to further
enhance attractiveness.

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The park building consists of a total of six linked ellipsoid-like volumes of varying size and shape and an additional volume covering the nearby underground
entrance.

The building
S:t Erik's indoor park is constructed in the form of a load-bearing laminated timber
construction clad in vaulted glass. The park building consists of a total of six linked
ellipsoid-like volumes of varying size and shape. The slender wooden beams make
the buildings' facades almost completely transparent, at the same time as the
internal column-like sections are closer together, giving the elevated volumes a
sense of stable anchorage.
Today's underground exit on the other side of Odengatan's extension has been
replaced with an entrance building which is a companion to the main building.
The entrance building creates a powerful visual connection with the main building
and strengthens S:t Eriksplan's overall identity as the site for the city's only indoor
park.
The wood and glass materials produce a light and elegant building which, with its
verdant interior and abundant lighting, will stand out as a landmark in the
cityscape. The park is strongly integrated with its surroundings and easily
accessible for the general public in purely physical terms. Entrances and passages
are generous, welcoming and clearly linked to surrounding pedestrian routes.
The building will be some 23 metres tall, at a level with the eaves of adjacent
buildings, and will have an area of about 1,500 square metres.

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S:t Eriksplan is a typical example of how at present many public spaces in Stockholm are often poorly designed in order to create a living urban environment
the inhabitants can share experiences and meet up.

The site at present

The idea is to locate the park in the site which is currently largely covered by a
raised grass area enclosed by a high kerb. The solution is inhospitable and does not
encourage use of the lawn. It also means that the grassy space is currently used to a
very limited extent. S:t Eriksplan is a typical example of how at present many public
spaces in Stockholm are oen poorly maintained in order to create a living urban
environment where the inhabitants can share experiences and meet up.
In many ways the location is ideal for such an environment. The area is very densely
populated and S:t Eriksplan is an obvious hub for local trac with its underground
station and bus stop, including for two trunk bus lines. Adjoining the site is
Vasaparken, which is already a natural attraction for Stockholm residents of
dierent generations, not least families with children. This part of Vasastan also
has a rich diversity of cultural activities which could make benecial use of the park
as a supplementary premises.
Both the location and the building's design means that many people on the move
would be naturally exposed to and attracted to take part in events and activities
which would otherwise not be visible in the same way in the urban environment.

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Site plan
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Entrances and passages are generous, welcoming and clearly linked to surrounding pedestrian routes.

Sustainability
The point of departure for the project has been to create a fundamentally
sustainable building. The material is climate smart, resistant and recyclable.
Solutions for heating, cooling and lighting are selected for the highest available
standard when it comes to energy eciency. The building can produce its own
heating for a large proportion of the year. During the colder times of year, the park
should be able to reuse heat from exhaust air from the adjacent underground and
the garage beneath St Eriksplan.

Project partners
The Swedish Federation of Glazing Contractors (Glasbranschfreningen) and the
Swedish Wood Building Council (Trbyggnadskansli) are both partners and co-
nanciers of the proposal for S:t Erik's indoor park and have been valuable
collaborative partners during the development of the project. The complexity of the
proposed solution's design and functionality provides major opportunities to
highlight beautiful, new thinking and innovative solutions from each partner.

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