Swedish architects win competition to create an extraordinary urban quarter in central Örebro, Sweden

With the “Örnsro Trästad” (Örnsro Timber Town) proposal, C.F. Møller Architects and C.F. Møller Landscape, in cooperation with Slättö Förvaltning, have won the task of designing a visionary residential quarter in central Örebro, Sweden. The competition was held by Örebro Municipality together with the Swedish Association of Architects with the aim of creating an extraordinary urban quarter, as a “new impulse in the city”.

Örnsro Trästad will be a destination and a vibrant quarter of Örebro, with a clear idea of how to enrich the city’s social networks by integrating nature into the urban landscape.

The residential buildings interact with an urban city park including a variety of activities and plazas for social meetings and recreation. The buildings in the district will be created with solid timber frame structures, and will contribute positively to the overall lifecycle perspective of the project. Timber is a renewable material, with low energy consumption and a limited carbon footprint.

The new urban quarter comprises several apartment buildings of varying heights.

The activity route, or thoroughfare, through the area interconnects the existing promenade sections along Svartån creek with the surrounding quarter. Ängen, a generous public city park, gives the area an unexpected meeting between city and wild nature.

“We wish to create an including urban quarter in which the city’s urban and social qualities interact with the park’s organic structures. The proposal illustrates a vision with the objective to create an exciting place in Örebro, of unique value, with innovative architecture,” says Ola Jonsson, the project architect at C.F. Møller.

“For us, it is an obvious choice to choose solid wood for structure as well as façades of wood. In addition to contributing positively to the environment, wood gives us new opportunities to create innovative and value-creating architecture.”

Nick Myall
News Editor