Nivå Landskapsarkitektur: Brunkebergstorg is a square located in one of the most central parts of Stockholm. This area has been received little attention for many years. The square is situated along a street parallel to Stockholm’s main shopping street, Drottninggatan, where thousands of people pass every day. Despite that, very few people have been using or passing by the square, even though it sits just a block away.

The aim of the restoration has been to create a central meeting point in the city with a well-thought-out design that combines the history of the square with a modern, expanding city. The increased number of people and movement across and along the place was an important aspect. In the surrounding area, a combination of a range of new activities have created new life on the square, including three new hotels with restaurants and bars with outdoor seating.

The square does not have the shape of a classic square, because of its location on Brunkebergs ridge, where the city’s grid structure meets and changes direction. The perception is more like “a place that has become”. The Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, is an important backdrop to the square and visually the most dominant building on the site. Therefore, it has been the most important building to relate to. The design of the square is inspired by the detail work on the heavy façade of the central bank, with its soft moldings in stone details. The ground covering consists of Swedish granite in three sizes and with four different treatments, creating a striped pattern with a random rhythm. Both strong contrasts and subtle differences in shades emerge in the lively surface. The granite paving stretches from façade to façade, making space for pedestrians and outdoor seating and keeping the square together, interrupted only by a narrowed asphalt street, Malmtorgsgatan.

The furniture is composed of four large and softly-rounded forms of terrazzo planted with magnolia trees, accompanied by circular benches around the fountains which meet the strict floor-covering. The design meets the needs of formal and informal seating for all ages, shading trees, seasonal shifts, as well as light and water and experiences in the form of carefully processed materials. The perforated steel screens in the fountains fill with a shimmering and warm light at night, while also covering the ventilation system for the underlying parking garage.

Down Malmtorgsgatan, the granite paving continues in a wide pedestrian walk where magnolias stand in big concrete planters on both sides of the street. The same elements return on the north side of the square, outside the central bank. All the materials that are used on the square are durable over time and provide an experience of elegance and solidity that, along with the chosen design language, correspond and contrast to the architecture in the surroundings, creating a contemporary, playful and poetic atmosphere.

Landscape Architect: Nivå Landskapsarkitektur
Other designers involved in the design of landscape: Lighting by Black Ljusdesign
Project location: Brunkebergstorg, 111 51 Stockholm, Sweden
Client: Stockholms stad
Contractor: NCC, PEAB
Area: 8700 sqm
Design year: 2015-2018
Year Built: 2017-2019