September 23, 2020

A hat-trick of historic
buildings

National Museum, Östermalms Saluhall and Medborgarhuset have all been given new life thanks to smart solutions and a wide range of air handling units.

Photo: Hans Thorwid

Historic buildings | Stockholm

As time passes, the use of a building may change. In addition, restoration of the interior, façades and technical installations may be necessary for a building to continue to meet changing needs and personal preferences. How can the requirements for renovation and restoration be met, while preserving the building’s cultural heritage? This was precisely the objective when we supplied air handling units to three technical renovations of beautiful old buildings.

Finding the balance between safeguarding a 150-year-old icon of cultural heritage and developing the building to meet new requirments has been our main challenge,

Ingrid Eiken Holmgren, Director General of the National Property Board of Sweden.

National Museum

A stone's throw from Kungsträdgården and with a façade facing the Royal Palace, Stockholm’s National Museum is an impressive sight. The beautiful museum from 1866 blends in perfectly with its surroundings of royal buildings and stately architecture from an older Sweden. With the passing of time, the years of wear and changes in use began to take their toll. In 2014, therefore, work was started on what would be a major renovation project.

“Finding the balance between safeguarding a 150-year-old icon of cultural heritage and developing the building to meet new requirments has been our main challenge,” says Ingrid Eiken Holmgren, Director General of the National Property Board of Sweden.

Photo: Anna Danielsson

Photo: Linn Ahlgren

We were entrusted with delivering 26 air handling units from our Flexomix series to all parts of the National Museum's operations. In the exhibition halls with many valuable and fragile objects, extremely stringent demands were placed on the temperature and humidity of the air. Therefore, air handling units with functional sections for dehumidification of the outdoor air and rotary heat exchangers with high moisture recirculation and tempering of the supply air were installed.

Thanks to our smart solutions, the old, beautiful façade from the 19th century has been preserved. The hope now is that the National Museum will stand proudly in all its glory with a good indoor climate for many years to come.

Östermalms Saluhall

The planning of Östermalms Saluhall began as early as June 2015, and it quickly became clear to the consultant that the restoration would be a challenge. The market hall was listed, which means it has ‘extremely high cultural historical value’, and was inaugurated in 1888.

The contract form was a divided contract, which meant that everything had to be planned in detail. Our wide range of smart solutions created the opportunity to find suitable AHUs despite the confined spaces. On 5 March 2020, it was finally time for the opening. The delivery consisted of 15 smaller and two larger air handling units from the Flexomix series.

Photo: Mattias Ek, Stadsmuseet

Forsgrénska bath at Medborgarhuset, Södermalm. Photo: Mattias Ek, Stockholm City Museum.

Medborgarhuset

Medborgarhuset was inaugurated in 1939 and for many years has housed activities for the inhabitants of Stockholm. The premises currently offers everything from a swimming pool to sports hall, restaurants, offices and a library. Over a period of two years, the building has undergone renovation and reconstruction. Planning started in 2013, and in autumn 2020 it was time for reopening.

Our wide range of energy-efficient air handling units has made it possible for the premises to be provided with a good indoor climate. A total of 22 air handling units were delivered in different sizes with several smart functions.