ÅF Pöyry : Sandellsandberg's Fisksätra Folkets Hus winner of Swedish design award

We are happy to announce that Sandellsandberg, a part of AFRY, has won first prize in the Swedish design award Design S for the project Fisksätra Folkets Hus, in the category Architecture. Design S was founded in 2006 and is Sweden's biggest and most comprehensive design award, backed by the entire design industry. Design S was formerly known as Utmärkt Svensk Form.

Thomas Sandell

The award is organised by Svensk Form and is aimed at professional designers, architects, individual specialists, producers and companies that work with design in a broad sense. Previously, Thomas Sandell has been awarded 11 Utmärkt Svensk Form prizes for his furniture and architecture.

Fisksätra Folkets Hus, a Sandellsandberg project commissioned by Stena Fastigheter, is the first building to be completed in the redevelopment of Fisksätra - a suburban residential in Nacka municipality.

One of the challenges of the project was related to social sustainability. The former Folkets Hus had played a key role in bringing the diverse population of Fisksätra closer together, but it was unfortunately located far from the centre within premises that were far from ideal. Therefore, it was crucial to place the local culture at the centre stage this time. The new Folkets Hus is located in the heart of Fisksätra, near the commuter station, and is designed to attract people of all ages and backgrounds and provides numerous cultural activities.

Since Folkets Hus was meant to be provisional on the site, with a temporary building permit, Sandellsandberg made a design that relates to tents and temporary structures. The inspiration for Folkets Hus comes from tents and a nomad's way of life. The unique triangle shaped windows resemble the opening of a tent when you pull away the drapes and opens up the space to make it appear larger than it actually is.

Sandellsandberg wanted a distinct but playful expression of the building and looked for a durable material that would be suitable for both walls and roof. The façade and the roof are completely clad by sinusoidal profiled color coated steel. Since they wanted to create a house inspired by tents, they also looked for a formative material reminiscent of fabric. The eye-catching silver fir green colour creates a beautiful contrast to the vibrant district and goes well with the neighboring orange apartment buildings.

The main design element is a 30-meter-wide eye-shaped window in the ceiling that brings light to the central room of the house. The inside is as simple, durable and elegant as the outside, with few materials and colors, and the rooms are flexible, bright and with great acoustics. The floors are sanded concrete and massive pine wood, and the walls are clad with white painted wood. The pale coloring of the interior was chosen to create a backdrop for the colorful activities that will happen there.

Sandellsandberg's aim was to create a design that would be popular among the numerous children who live in the area, and to create a positive vibe.