W
e begin in Brunkebergstorg, a beautiful but largely forgotten square in the Norrmalm neighbourhood of Stockholm. Once the heart of the city, it was a wellto-do area of finely appointed residential homes that gradually transformed into a commercial and then financial centre. Come the 1960s, much of the heritage architecture was destroyed and the neighbourhood lost its way. By day, commercial life went on and the Gallerian indoor shopping mall made for a pleasant enough respite from the biting cold of a Stockholm winter. But at night it became associated with an underclass of urban life and the city decided that something needed to be done. And so, in conjunction with various landowners, Urban Escape Stockholm was born. Anticipating the zeitgeist of modern metropolitan living, the mixed-use development blends retail, leisure and office space to create a hub of social, cultural and economic interaction. Already open in one of the buildings is Epicentre, the city’s first ‘House of Innovation’ comprising shared desk
space, comfortable lounges and state of the art conference facilities. In all, the neighbourhood regeneration project will see the existing 95,000m2 site expanded to 130,000m2, of which 62,000m2 will be devoted to offices, 38,000m 2 to commercial use, and 29,000m2 to hotels. There is also a small, 28-unit residential component.
its lease and moved out leaving 50,000m2 vacant. “With this we started the process of development and rethinking the block as whole,” explains Karolin Forsling, Chief Development Officer at AMF Fastigheter. “Here we are transforming a previously closed block to an open part of the city centre,” she adds. Within the former Swedbank offices that run
“Hotels contribute to creating what we call ‘the third space’ – the space between work and home.” Karolin Forsling, AMF Fastigheter
Prime amongst the stakeholders is AMF Fastigheter, the property arm of the pension company AMF, whose portfolio currently has a market value of around SEK60bn (€6.5bn). AMF Fastigheter acquired the properties that make up Urban Escape between 1999 and 2000. In 2014 a major tenant, Swedbank, chose not to prolong
along the west side of the site, overlooking the triangular plot of Brunkebergstorg, AMF wanted two hotels with different characters. “Hotels contribute to creating what we call ‘the third space’ – the space between work and home,” Forsling continues. “They play a significant role in helping us revitalise the city.”
JANUARY 2015
AUGUST 2015
NOVEMBER 2016
MARCH 2017
Epicenter, Stockholm’s first House of Innovation opens
The first virtual groundbreaking ceremony takes place
Businesses move into office space at Malmtorgsgatan 8
Two hotels open at Brunkebergstorg
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