martin martinsson architecture

Location	Kalmar, Sweden
Date	2017–2019
Information	Kv. Forellen, in the middle of Kalmar, next to the canal and directly opposite two the old town on Kvarnholmen, is today mainly a vacant site used only by the adjacent school as a cantine building and as a parking lot. The central location and the desire to create an urban link between the old town and the more newly built urban areas to the north, started the investigation to see wether it was possible to use the site for other purposes. The strategy developed, makes a clear division between a block used for educational purposes and a block of new urban development. The desire to develop the site i two different stages created another subdivision of the block into two smaller blocks with a public car free passage in the middle. The size of the two smaller blocks is similar the block structure which is found in the area around the cathedral so that it becomes clear that the new development is an extension of the inner city. The proposal adapts itself in scale and form to the structure found in the old inner city but still has a new and modern identity. The blocks are then further subdivided into smaller building lots, where each house has different height. The height of each building is decided according to sightlines between the existing streets and the cathedral. Due to the need of creating more parking lots for the visitors to the city centre two different designs proposals were tested. One urban inner city version and one version with a parking garage in the middle.
Type	Freelance commission. Urban design proposal and study.
Client	Tengbom Kalmar. Kalmarhem. Kalmar kommun.
Project team	Martin Martinsson Architecture Aron Aspenström, Tengbom Kalmar.

all projects

Conceptual analysis for the development of the project.

Masterplan in the second phase. A parking garage was added in the northern block.

Volumetric study from the second phase. View of the passage between the school and the main street. The buildings are lower in the middle to be able to maintain the sightline between the street and the cathedral. A mixture of housing typologys along the same street. Commersial activities on the ground floor towards the main street.

View of the main street. Commersial activities on the ground floor. Reduced speed for cars and the main street is converted into a share space for cars, bicycles and pedestrians.

A new bridge connects the newly built area with the pedestrian street in the old town. A new promenade along the canal with restaurants and cafés works as an attraction for the residents and visitors. The ground has been raised to provide protection from rising sea levels.

Interior view of the new block. Low rise houses and private gardens in the middle.

View of the new canal front. A public promenade with cafés and restaurants. The houses have different heights as a reaction to the sightlines between the main street and the cathedral. The orientation of the gable of the roof in the front was chosen to provide views of the innercity from the back and to create variation.

Volumetric study of the two blocks. A parking garage in the middle of the structure is hidden behind residential buildings.

Volumetric study of the two blocks. The canal has floating cafés and parks to further strengthen the movement to and through the area and works as an attraction for all residents and visitors.