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Stensjö Terrace

Stensjögatan 64–66, Malmö, 2006

Type of project: roof-top terrace for disabled elderly and courtyard for an apartment building with mixed social accommodation

Material: glass, steel, wood, planting pots of glassfibre-reinforced concrete, plants

Site area in total: 5313 m2

Terrace area: 160 m2, 30 m2 sedum roof

Commissioned by: Stadsfastigheter, Malmö

My team: Jens Linnet, Sara Schlytter, Mårten Setterblad

Planting: Kommunteknik Malmö

Contractor: NIMAB entreprenad AB

Engineering: SEWS arkitekter AB (in coordination with

the main building)

Photographer: Nils Bergendal

This garden belonged to a point block where the two top floors were used for geriatric care. The people living here were quite old and weak; they had difficulties moving and kept to their beds most of the time. The chance that they would get down to the ground floor was slim. The only possibility was to use the roof terrace of the building. What kind of shelter was needed here, six floors up? This was a place with lots of sun and wind and no soil for planting.

The result was another innovation. A pavilion on the outermost corner of the terrace with the best view, overlooking the faraway sea, a bridge and other buildings, with enormous poplars in the foreground. The glass is partially tinted as optimistic sunglasses, which is cheery on those days when the whole world is grey. There are sliding hatches which can be closed when needed to decrease the impact of the wind. Plants are growing in rounded configurations on the concrete floor, about the right height if you sit in a wheelchair.