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bananhuset project

renovation and smart refurbishment ideas of a Million Program residential building in a suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden
2012

 

partners: Anna-Katarina Bauder and James Ford.

 

 

The project regards a proposal for the renovation and smart refurbishment ideas of a Million Program residential building in a suburb of Gothenburg, developed through consultation with Familjbostäder and the residents through a participatory approach.

The main strategy for retrofitting Bananhuset is to engage the residents and isolate the most important issues to be addressed by our design response. From our initial impressions of the site we indentified challenges with connecting the front and back and engaging the community by rearranging the ground floor. We also intend to address the salient issues of leaking pipes and poor insulation along with general neglect in building maintenance.

Tellusgatan 6 - 30 (Bananhuset) was built in Bergsjön in 1966 and is part of the Million Program. Its main characteristic is a bold curve created by fitting together unit parts at a slight angle. Bananhuset has 168 apartments of which most have three rooms (80 m2) and it is owned by Familjbostäder.

Responding to the feeing of unsafety many people we spoke to expressed, we want to help neighbors get to know each other. We want to change the dark and shady entrances of the back side.

A very natural first thought was to focus on the ground floor. Adding spaces for common activities and letting the building communicate with it’s close surroundings in a more open way. 

 

To complete a series of participatory methods, we arranged a workshop, inviting all the tenants of Bananhuset by distributing flyers and making personal contact with our previous interviewees. The workshop took place during one of the weekly Culture Cafés hosted by the Time Banking Network in Bergsjön, in the Utveckling Nordosts facilities.

In general, the workshop was designed to engage the participants via a board game with maps, models and concept cubes, and to start conversations about the vision of a new Bananahouse.

We are happy to say that the attendance was satisfactory and a lot of brilliant ideas came up during our interesting conversations with the participants. It was a pleasant evening with a lot of friendly faces and some sweet cookies. We finally focused on a few main important areas.

We addressed the clear feelings of un- safety about the area and tried to rein- force pride of one’s home by repairing the old laundry facilities and outdated utilities. To bolster community activity and interchange, we have revised the ground floor as a center for public events and meeting locations. This is meant to bring life to the area and im- prove a sense of safety and community. We also focus on the ground floor’s connection to the courtyard and street, the plan of the apartments and the overall energy efficiency.

 

Design desicions:

Open passage through the building. The space for the backside entrances is widened to give a more clear movement when approaching the house from this side. 

Closed entrance, but with visual contact to both sides of the build- ing. Double the space for laundry room and add a lounge, facing the back. 

By the entrance no. 10 there is already a passage.

This is widened, creating an open space. On both sides of this space public activities are introduced, Gym, study rooms and “free second hand shop”.

A new roof window and fiber optics along the walls gives the stair case natural light. 

 

The project was presented to the company Famil- jbostäder and they were very convinced and moved forward to its realisation. 

 

 

 

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