Sergelhusen building complex has a unique location in the middle of Stockholm city, right next to the public square Sergels torg (i.e. square). Karavan designed the rooftops and lower external terraces of the buildings into multifunctional green spaces offering visitors great views over this busy part of the capital. Here, Vasakronan has developed new office and retail spaces, housing and meeting places by renovating the old office property. The project is an extensive development project that overall involves three buildings, three streets and a new connection to Sergels torg. This award-winning project has high environmental ambitions, focusing on sustainability, climate adaptation, reuse of resources and increasing biodiversity in the cityscape.

The property has been given a completely new look. The ground floors towards Sergels torg and Malmskillnadsgatan are opened. The transformation of the block aims to contribute to a more vibrant city. The property is supplemented with new shops, cafés, restaurants and homes that create the conditions for the neighbourhood to live around the clock.

In connection with the rebuilding and extension of the block’s existing houses, Vasakronan’s ambition was also to utilize the block’s roofs as a resource. Social and ecological values were added in the design by Karavan. The roofs are now transformed into attractive recreational areas for those working in the buildings, that to a large extent accommodate office activities. On the northeast terrace is a restaurant and public rooftop bar open to the public.

The terraces are designed to clearly face west, to make the most of the views and the sun, in a strict design language inspired by the expression of the buildings. Elongated sun sofas connect the spaces and becomes natural meeting spots.

The project is LEED’s platinum-certified with high environmental ambitions. The design consists of a large proportion of green areas, maximized to meet the LEED’s requirements. 60% of the 5900 sqm roof area is green. 400 shrubs, 2000 spring-flowering bulbs and more than 3000 perennials have been planted. The vegetation contributes to improving the air quality, increasing biodiversity and creating attractive social spaces.

The green areas delay and reduce stormwater runoff and the rest of the rainwater is led to a stormwater reservoir inside the building. From there, water is collected for irrigating the green areas on the roof and reused for cleaning bicycles in the basement etc.

In 2020, the sustainable and green rooftops won the Scandinavian Green Roof Award, which is nominated annually by the Scandinavian Green Infrastructure Association (SGIA).

The jury’s motivation:

“Turning grey to green – The 2020 Green roof award is awarded to the green roof installations on Sergelhuset. This project is a renovation project where new green systems have been added where there previously were very few. The new vegetation systems are multifunctional in its true sense and they add biodiversity values, stormwater function, and particular recreational values in a densely built-up area. It is generally hard to include green roofs on existing buildings, but this project shows that it is possible to add large surfaces and with high quality.”

Sergelhusen has received several fine nominations, prizes and awards. It is a result of many actors’ fine collaborations and efforts. A selection is presented below.

Winner of the LEED building/project of the year, 2020
Winner of the Environmental Award of the Year Sweden’s Concrete Gala, 2020
Winner of the Scandinavian Green Roof Award, 2020
Nominated for Stockholm Building of the Year, 2021

Project Data

Landscape Architecture: Karavan

Architecture: Equator and Marge
Contractor/supplier western rooftop: Urban green
Contractor/supplier eastern rooftop: Zengun and PMA Pilbäck Mark & Anläggning
Client: Vasakronan through Veidekke, NCC, Zengun
Project Location: Malmskillnadsgatan, Stockholm, Sweden
Year Built: 2020
Photographer: Robin Hayes and Karavan