Först Till Kvarn - Conservation & Transformation

FĂ–RST TILL KVARN Reactivating the Mariestad Mill area

BUILDINGS

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1. Town Library (1895) Originally built for the county administrative board. The building has also housed a school and civic hall.

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2. Music school (1908) Started as a school for housewives and continued with different school activities.

3. Regionens hus (1981) On the site of the previous city hospital. The recent building contains the adult psychiatry and social services.

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4. The Mill (1892)

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6. Humlet (1980) 3.

Retirement home at the site where Mariestads brewery 3. placed before it was demolished in 1978. was

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I., II. Previous buildings used by the mill.

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FÖRST TILL KVARN

Reactivating the Mariestad Mill area

Site history The history of Mariestad begins in 1583 when the city is founded at the mouth of Tidan into Vänern. In the mid 1880s the city expands and a new plan is designed based around the new avenue street, Drottninggatan. The new county hospital (1885) is placed in the end of the street that is lined with residential villas and a building for the county administrative board.

In 1892 the mill is built south of Drottninggatan along Tidan. The site has a history of mills, as seen on the site plan from 1813. The mill was at first accompanied with Mariestad’s brewery built in 1848 (and demolished in 1978). In 1938 the mill was restored and reopened as Sweden’s first milling school.

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Since 1987 the mill functions as a hydro power plant, with just a small part of the building being used for turbines, while most of the space remains unused.

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5. Hotel Wictoria

WHY?

FOR WHOM?

HOW?

The identity of Mariestad is in a state of change. Its role as a regional administration town has disappeared and its industries are bit by bit dismantling.

The mill area will be a place for the people of Mariestad. A place where the community can gain resilience as a social group and develop in new forms, dictated by terms set by themselves. By allowing the people of Mariestad to re-tie their bonds to the mill and the site, this project aims at establishing the mill as a point in the urban landscape, a space of social importance and stability.

The site can meet the needs for different users; functioning both as a node for pedestrian and biking commuters and as a destination for both everyday use and leisure activities.

In order to reactivate the site as a public space we propose strategies in different scales.

Mariestad has, in an effort to achieve goals of attractiveness and growth, focused a lot of its attention on their lake town image by new lakeside properties and portraying a picturesque image of the historic town for tourists. This focus neglects many of the city’s other qualities.

Many sites with historical value are situated along the river Tidan and today hidden due to bad communication, infrastructure and no activities at these sites.

A relevant complement to the question for whom is by whom.

Our vision for the mill area is to In the spirit of DIY we propose make it a catalyst for development that the local community gets where the identities of different involved in the implementation of groups merge together, creating the project. To be a part of the a more holistic self-image for the building process could further people of Mariestad. act as a catalyst for the sense of belonging.

With a new pedestrian and bicycle road along Tidan the mill area becomes a node connecting important sites along the river.

By placing the local craftsman school adjacent to the site the heritage of education and Mariestad’s identity enhances, additionally the area is populated on an everyday basis.

With a footbridges the flooded forest is made accessible. Next to the mill the volume of an earlier warehouse is brought back in the form of an open structure.

The structure connects to both the river and the mill yard and welcomes many different kinds of activities. In the same spirit the upper levels of the mill can be used for various temporary events, while the basement still functions as a hydropower plant.

investigations

proposal

As earlier mentioned the proposal deals with different scales in the townscape of Mariestad. At a planning level, the mill is identified as a new node in a part of town that has previously been neglected. In the future visions of the municipality of Mariestad the mill is not mentioned, however it can be linked to many of their specific areas of interest. Out of the 12 marked geographical vision areas from the extended comprehensive plan (FÖP 2013) the mill is within three of the major. Additionally a new walking and bike road along Tidan is planned passing by the mill.

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Starting from the municipal proposal we propose the mill to become an important node in the new pedestrian and biking road system. By connecting important sites to the mill and to each other, a new network is established to accommodate the new role of the mill area and the proposed interventions taking place there. By identifying and highlighting additional important sites we upgrade the municipal planned single biking road through the industry area into a more interesting and well-connected road system.

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INDUSTRIAL CONNECTIONS 1. Former Brewery Area 2. Electrolux 3. Metsä Tissue

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HERTIG KARL’S SQUARE The 60’s square facing the industries functions today as a car park. We propose it as an important site to reactivate and reconnect to the town.

THE INDUSTRY BRIDGEHEAD

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EDUCATIONAL CONNECTIONS 1. DaCapo Campus (Gothenburg University) 2. Library + Music School 3. Former Milling School

We propose to push back the industry fences creating a connection from Hertig Karl’s square to the flooded forest and the mill area. The new open space created where industry meets the river becomes a gateway for the industry workers and the public.

KATRINEFORS PAPER FACTORY Today large lawns are hidden within industry boundaries.

One of those lawns is on opposite side of Tidan from the 19th century buildings of Katrinefors Paper Factory (today Metsä Tissue). By a new bicycle path the site becomes open to the public letting them connect with their industrial heritage.

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ALLOTMENTS AND FISHING A new area with allotment gardens is proposed by the municipality, close to the local fishing clubs hut which currently are using the flooded forest area by the mill for occasional recreation fishing.

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ELVÄRKET YOUTH CENTER CONNECTIONS TO OPEN PUBLIC SPACES 1. Hertig Karl’s Square 2. Humlet Park 3. Mill Yard 4. Parking

At the south end of the industrial area the youth center of Mariestad is situated. Our intention is to, by connecting Elvärket with the new bike route, incorporate it into the new identity of Mariestad.

Comprehensive Plan scale 1:8000 (org 1:4000)

FOOTBRIDGE System

The Shelter

In order to break the barrier of Tidan, to connect the opposite shorelines and to connect with the unique nature of the flooded forest we propose a system of wooden footbridges.

Finally, the yard is completed by the creation of a light, open structure, on the site of a pre-existing building, now torn down. The idea behind this structure is to create a morphological bridge between materiality and density, connecting the formal solid brick block of the mill and the informal wilderness of the flooded forest.

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The footbridges appears in three different sizes; a larger road across the dam mainly for transportation, medium-sized bridges for an accessible recreation route through the flooded forest and the smallest size for the adventures experience of the nature. Attached to the mediumsize bridges are several platforms which create new spaces, within the forest, for fishing, pausing, playing etc.

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Inspirational pictures

Lumber Crafting school Tying the mill back together with its educational past, and infusing it with the new university presence in Mariestad, the school for lumber crafting is moving in. Currently the lumber crafting education is situated at Johannesberg, far from the DaCapo Campus.

Site plan scale 1:2000 (org 1:1000)

The idea is that the open structure can be a shelter for the citizens of Mariestad to use for multiple uses such as workshops, parties or a common Saturday picnic. Therefore the shelter is supplied with an open fireplace and a sink with tap water.

Public toilets are intended to be accessed across the yard, by the lumber crafting school.

In the same spirit the top two floors of the mill are opened up for various temporary use, exhibitions, wedding parties or perhaps lecture halls.

With these small interventions the solitary fortress of the Mill can become an open, hospitable place. It is reactivated to become a catalyst for the identity of Mariestad.

By moving the lumber crafting to south of the mill yard the site connects to the town identity of craftsmanship and the mill area is given a clear, everyday function.

The school for lumber crafting is design using the requirements and wishes by the educational office during a pre-study 2008. The north hall, which connects to the mill yard, helps defining the open space and is also intended to be useable for other purposes, connected to events at the mill yard.

Above: The materiality of the shelter connects to the mill but also to the new craftmanship educations in both bricklaying and timber construction.

Left: The lumber crafting school, and behind the forest the mill, seen from the bike bridge across the dam.

section a-a

the mill yard

shelter

flooded forest with footbridges

With a series of small interventions the Mill and its surroundings is re-established and can once again become an important part of the identity of Mariestad.

resting platform

flooded forest with footbridges

new park area and common space