Sundholmen

The island of Sundholmen lies in the district of Limhamn in the southwestern part of Malmö municipality. During the first half of the 20th century, various industrial activities were conducted here: shipyards and aircraft production. Two office buildings and one factory building remain today, now housing the local school, a convenience store, and a health and fitness facility. The northern part of the island began to be developed with multi-family housing in the early 1990s, while the southern part was built in the late 1990s. The island is also known for fishing, particularly in the northern section.

Our commission here involved creating residential courtyards and internal streets in connection with the newly built multi-family buildings. After completing the design, we were also commissioned in spring 2011 by Aarsleff, who would be responsible for the groundworks, to prepare complete construction documents.

Here today, figs and katsura grow — species one does not often encounter in Sweden

Sea-adjacent concept with exotic vegetation on Sundholmen

We developed a concept featuring exotic vegetation framed by corten steel in sharply defined lines and edges. The sea-adjacent location, with courtyards constructed on deck structures, presented particular conditions for the project. We created an engaging base structure through generous timber decking with planting beds at varying heights. The striking corten steel is present throughout much of the custom-designed equipment, for example in benches, tree grilles, and trunk guards.

The courtyards are sheltered from weather and wind. This creates unusually favourable conditions for the exotic plants we selected in close dialogue with experts from SLU Alnarp. Today, you’ll find species like figs and katsura thriving here – a rare sight in Sweden.