Social, sustainable and active in Granitor's home of the future
The big picture: In the social hub, residents can settle down and work or socialize. A laundry lounge and a bicycle workshop are located next door. Photo: Henrik Rosenqvist at White Architects
In the Brunnshög district in northeastern Lund sells Lund Municipality its land to construction operators who offer high durability in their buildings. In this way, the municipality has managed to create an area with well-proven green building concepts combined with sustainable innovations. In the area, homes are heated with low-temperature district heating based on waste heat from the research facilities MAX IV and over time ESS, a tram transports travelers between ESS and the city center and a modern garbage extraction system handles the transportation of household garbage.
Future by Lund member Granitor works with real estate development and management and in Brunnshög there are Brf Life with 42 homes in a brick-red six-story building. In the spring of 2023, there was occupancy in the apartments, which have between one and three rooms. The accommodation is a good example of how sustainability impacts in many areas.
- Brf Life is a project where we have chosen to test different ideas, says Linn Runquist, project manager for Brf Life at Granitor Properties. Some of the things we have done are done in many properties, such as we Swan label all our homes. In this project, we have also worked on the basis that it would be a green, social, active and car-free accommodation.
Some green factors in Brf Life are that the house is a low energy house and that there are solar cells on the roof with battery storage to better utilize the energy from the solar cells. In addition, there are green roofs, a leafy courtyard with stormwater delay, plants chosen to benefit biodiversity that bloom at different times, birdhouses and insect hotels. The residents have a greenhouse and a flower bed where they can grow, compost and rain barrels.
Granitor had promised a car-free living from the start and it gave rise to an accommodation that encourages activity.
- If you do not have a car, the bicycle is often an important means of transport, says Linn Runquist. Therefore, we chose to work with solutions that make cycling easy, such as having a bike ramp to the garage, a washing place in the yard, as well as a bicycle workshop and lockable storage lockers for bike helmets with the possibility of charging bicycle batteries in the entrance. In addition, we have a bike pool with two electric bikes and two regular bikes and space to get more if needed.
At the front of the house there is an outdoor gym and the stairwell has windows and set doors to the floor plan to make it more pleasant to choose the stairs.
Since the property has many smaller apartments that attract single residents, social is also an important basic idea. In the entrance there is a social hub where residents can work, socialize or wait while their laundry is finished, because next to the social area there is a laundry lounge where you can book your washing machine. The laundry lounge has become a social place, but it is based on the fact that a shared laundry room saves resources because you have chosen not to prepare for washing machines in the apartments, and in this way both green and social sustainability work together. Right next door there is also a bicycle workshop where residents can use their bicycles or borrow tools that they may need in their apartments.
- The social spaces have been very successful in the project, continues Linn Runquist. The open living room can be used as a meeting place or a place to sit down and work. Here you can choose how much you want to spend time with your neighbors and it gives a security in the house that the residents meet and know each other.
Granitor is working to design the smart home of the future in many different properties. Several of the solutions exist or are under construction in Brf Life. The digital accommodation platform provides facts about the accommodation, care instructions and opportunities to order, for example, fiber or make a fault report. There is a digital gateway phone where visitors can reach the residents but residents can also unlock public doors remotely via the housing app.
- Soon it will also be possible to read the consumption of both cold and hot water and electricity via the platform. High-speed internet is available in the apartments and a router is installed in the apartments. The system is also designed so that you are on your own Wifi no matter where in the house you are. Lighting control is also available via the platform and the function will eventually be integrated into the platform.
Linn Runquist especially highlights the digital platform and the social hub when she talks about brf Life.
- When I have been visiting, I see that residents are sitting in the hub and socializing and someone has even supplemented with new games. We also see that the neighbor chat on the platform has become a place for positive information between neighbors. Here it is neighbors who help each other solve problems, such as going out with dogs or helping each other in the apartments. People have lived there for half a year and we are now planning to evaluate the features of the house shortly - it will be exciting to hear how the residents experience everything!
How do you feel about working on a project with new conditions?
- It has been great fun to make something that contains pieces that we would otherwise often prioritize away. Our social spaces could have become another apartment that brought income, now they are a strength of the project. I feel we succeeded and that has to do with how the project was designed. We are used to working with the green sustainability goals, but here we have thought a little longer.
Granitor Properties has developed a concept for smart home, the caring home. Brf Life is that of the first projects to be completed. Granitor's vision for the future includes a range of features designed to make everyday life easier in homes. At the touch of a button, for example, it would be possible to make sure that the home is locked and that all the lights are turned off - and perhaps also be able to control lights and locks remotely. At another stage of life, the home could provide increased security through help with turning the lights on at night and sensor that alerts home services if the occupant should fall. More features can be added as time goes by.
