Arvesgärde Estate, Hisingen, Gothenburg
We recently visited our older daughter and our grandchildren who live on the Arvesgärde Estate on Hisingen Island north of central Gothenburg. We have been visiting for a number of years but this is the first time that I have carried out a detailed exploration and appreciation of the estate and its buildings.
The Arvesgärde Estate was constructed in the mid-1960s in Tuve district on Hisingen Island in an area that appears to have been developed as a residential district serving Gothenburg (25% of Gothenburg’s population live on Hisingen Island). Tuve Torg, a group of civic buildings was constructed to serve the surrounding residential areas in the early 1970s. It has two small supermarkets, a florist, a café, a library, a hairdresser, a pharmacy and a church and is about ten minutes’ walk from the estate. The area has further developed in the years since with the construction of a health centre, a family centre, a youth club, a funeral home, a gym, a pre-school, more apartment buildings, restaurants, etc. The estate is close to Hisingsparken, the largest park on Hisingen Island which has extensive walking trails, running paths and the Kattilsrod 4H farm which is very popular with children and families. The city’s bus line 17 provides a 15/20-minute service into central Gothenburg from its terminal close to the estate.
Twenty-one, 4-storey apartment buildings were constructed on the estate in a large, landscaped, park-like setting. The estate is separated into two sections by a central parking area with eight apartment buildings in the eastern section and thirteen in the western section (there is another parking area outside and to the west of the western section). All of the apartment buildings are linked by wide paths but cars are only allowed in for specific purposes such as the delivery of large items and generally only pedestrians and cyclists are allowed in the estate making it safe for children and pedestrians. Some apartments are rented and some are owned by the residents.
The apartment buildings are constructed of yellow bricks with red tiled roofs. Some end walls are finished with coloured, profiled steel sheets. The buildings are very well maintained externally and internally, the floors to the entrances, stairs and other public areas are finished in good quality terrazzo. All buildings have stairs and small lifts. Internally the apartment walls and ceilings are finished in plaster and floors are finished with oak parquet. The parquet itself is quite thin (3mm) and is laid on 25mm x 25mm softwood blocks laid vertically and themselves laid on a layer of felt. This construction was probably used to reduce sound transfer between the different floors of the building and it is very effective but there is a slight ‘give’ in the floors when walked over. The parquet in my daughter’s apartment has lasted very well. The windows are timber, triple-glazed with a standard double-glazed unit externally and an openable single glazed unit internally. Between the two units are narrow movable louvres that obviate the need for curtains and that are operated from inside the rooms. All apartments are heated by a district heating system.
All of the buildings are 4-stories high but some, due to the slope of the land, have the entrances in a lower ground floor and a few, again due to the slope of the land, are 5-stories high at one end. All apartments have small balconies most of which are enclosed but some of which are still open. The apartments vary in size from one-bedroom to four bedrooms and the number of apartments in each building also varies from 40 to 50.
My daughter has a 2-bedroom apartment which has a large entrance with space for hanging coats, etc; a dining room/kitchen with access to a small balcony; a wide, central corridor with a utility room and a walk-in storage space on one side and a bedroom on the other and a large sitting room at the end of the corridor with another bedroom off the sitting room. All of the living areas/bedrooms are much larger than anything being built today and the rooms would have been larger than those being constructed in UK at the time even though they were being built to Parker Morris standards (long since abandoned!).
All of the apartment buildings have shared facilities on the ground or lower ground floor. In my daughter’s building these include a bike store, a buggy store, a ‘hobbies’ room complete with tools, a laundry room with two industrial washing machines, a heated drying room and a small gym. Each apartment also has a large, secure storage space on the lower ground floor. The service charges are high but include the district heating, hot and cold water, use of the gym and broadband. Twice a year skips are provided for residents to use for getting rid of old furniture and other large items. There is a community building in the centre of the estate with spaces that can be hired by residents for parties and other events.
The buildings are set well apart and there is, therefore, no problem with overlooking. The landscaping is fairly basic with large areas of lawns (complete with hares!), trees and some planted areas and there are also children’s play areas, sandpits, boules courts and barbeque areas. Because of the lack of cars, children are free to roam the estate in safety and overall, it provides a very pleasant setting for the apartments.
The ‘architecture’ of the buildings is fairly bland and not very interesting but the size of the apartments and the numerous facilities provided for residents make the buildings so much better than any residential buildings being constructed in the UK today (and even those constructed in the past when space standards were so much higher), that it does not really matter. It just seems to be a great place to live and bring up children.
There is a primary school close to the estate (a maximum of 10-minutes walking time without the need to cross any roads), that serves the estate and other adjacent housing areas and which has recently been renovated and extended. The architecture is not really too my taste as I think that too many different materials have been used in its construction and not enough consideration has been given to the orientation of the buildings and to solar control but the standard of construction is very good as are the facilities that have been provided. Unlike UK schools, the school buildings and play areas are not fenced off and the school’s playgrounds can be used by local children out of school hours as can some of the school’s facilities such as the gym.
Architecture in Developing Countries: A Resource
The design and construction of appropriate, low-cost buildings for education and health in rural areas of the developing world.
Nigel Wakeham worked as an architect for 23 years in Southern and West Africa and the SW Pacific working on education, health and other projects. He has since worked for over 20 years as a consultant for national governments and agencies such as the World Bank, DFID, ADB and AfDB on the implementation of the construction components of education and health projects in many countries in the developing world.
The objective of this website will be to provide the benefit of more than 45 years of experience of working in developing countries to architects and other construction professionals involved in the design and construction of appropriate, low-cost buildings for education and health. It will provide reference material from the projects that Nigel has worked on and technical information on the design, construction and maintenance of educational and health facilities and other relevant topics and these will be added to from time to time.
I am happy to be contacted by anyone requiring further information on any of the projects or resources referred to in this website or by anyone wishing to discuss work possibilities.
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