Elderly Care Skärvet

Växjö, Sweden

Architects: Kjellander Sjöberg

Location: Växjö, Sweden
Year: 2017
Client: Skanska
Team: Lena Viterstedt, Saki Azodi, Ola Kjellander, Sanna Taune, Andreas Nordström, Charlotte Fredriksson, Iselin Marie Johansen, Martin Kraft

The elderly care is a part of the city block Skärvet, which is the starting point of Bäckaslöv, a new urban district in Växjö being developed along the railway connecting the city centre to the lake Norra Bergundasjön. The L- shaped building is the first phase and the cornerstone of the city block, offering mixed forms of tenure around a spacious, shared courtyard.

The layout organisation is based on arranging all common and neutral areas into a central hub with individual departments located in each respective wing. The core of each department is its dining and living room, an open space reaching from façade to façade. Its large windows and tall ceiling heights provide great daylight conditions.

The common functions comprise an assembly hall, a conservatory, physiotherapy facility and a greenhouse on the rooftop with a view over the shared courtyard and the green recreation space.

The design and configuration are strongly linked to the construction process. The variation in the façade is rationally achieved by using more joints than façade elements and by combining four sections of different types of tile patterns. The overall design thus resembles a textile pattern or a crocheted table cloth. Entrances, windows and roofs are accentuated by copper-coloured metal sheets, adding warmer tones. The building is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certificate and Skanska’s top level environmental classification.

Photo: Max Plunger