Adapting Snäckan 8

Abstract: “Adapting Snäckan 8” aims to investigate material and immaterial value while transforming an existing built structure. Current development plans seek to demolish and replace the existing building by a new, 10 meter wider, 4.5 meter taller building of office spaces; increasing the scale of the Klara quarter once more, just as during the Norrmalm Regulation historically. Excluding both: plans for housing, as well as the so called “Culture House”. A space that included a café, a library and a cinema, for everyone, including especially the homeless people of Stockholm.Accompanied by a notion that when we demolish built structures, not only do we demolish material, but also social structures that have been built up over time; the ecological aspects of adaptive re-use are expanded by social urgency. In light of the housing crisis and increasing social segregation as well as the development of the pandemic, the accessibility of a home is now perhaps more pressing than ever. This project therefore aims to provide affordable, inclusive mixed-use living within the city centre, adapting Snäckan 8 to changing rhythms and patterns of daily life. Thereby hoping to continue writing the story of Snäckan 8, rather than erasing it.