Tengbom Green Micro-House Becomes Bokompakt Student Housing.

Bokompakt Student Housing

In 2012 Tengbom Architects was commissioned by AF Bostäder to design housing for students at the Lund University which was affordable and environmental-friendly. The prototype design, which was featured on many architecture and design blogs, was a minimalist wooden eco-friendly micro-house.

Bokompakt Green Student Housing

The project, by builders AF Bostäder, was to challenge today’s building regulations in order to build student housing of high quality with low living costs.

Tengbom’s Initial Design: 10 smart sqm

tengbom house1 IIHIH

Tengbom’s Initial Design was done in collaboration with wood manufacturer Martinsons and AF Bostäder. The unit was displayed in Virserum Art Museum during 2013 as part of their WOOD 2013 project.

tengbom house6 IIHIH

tengbom house7 IIHIH

To meet the needs of students in a sustainable, smart and affordable way were the key concerns when Tengbom, in collaboration with students at the Lund University, was designing this eco-friendly 10 square meter (108 square feet) home.

tengbom house3 IIHIH

tengbom house2 IIHIH

This truly compact-living flat still offered a comfortable sleeping-loft, kitchen, bathroom and a small garden with a patio. Through an efficient layout and the use of cross laminated wood as a construction material the rent is reduced by 50 % and the ecological impact and carbon footprints is also significantly reduced.

tengbom house5 IIHIH

tengbom house4 IIHIH

They planned on building 22 of these units in 204 for students to move into at The Lund University. So, what’s the status? First, they tested out the small prototype by Tengbom by having a student named Madeline live there for one year:

Bokompakt (“Compact Living”)
from 10sqm to bokompakt IIHIH

Then Bokompakt (“Compact Living”) was born. The design has since evolved into Sweden’s most compact and absolute coolest student living spaces. Bokompakt is a development project that is new, smart and eco-friendly.

bokompakt sketch

bokompakt model

There are 16 single-person apartments (10 m2), 4 two-person apartments (20 m2), 1 three-person apartment (30 m2) and 1 apartment for four people (40 m2) in the cluster of four buildings.

apt layouts

The design of the 22 apartments is mainly based on collaboration between the project architect and a reference group of students. Ensuring environmental protection and benefit to the student as a tenant were the underlying aims of every solution.

bokompakt exteriors

Inside Bokompakt:

bokompakt interior 16

The project had several ambitions: low rent, sustainable building and reduced use of resources in both the construction and management phases. These, along with the explicit R&D aims of the project, have resulted in a number of solutions that are explained here in greater detail.

bokompakt interior 8

bokompakt interior 11

bokompakt interior 3

bokompakt interior 4

The apartments are small, with some fixed furnishings, built-in loft beds (excluding mattress), simple storage and open shelving.

bokompakt interior 7

bokompakt interior 14

Like the initial single standing micro-homes, there is a big feel-good factor with great layouts, daylight from two directions and a grow box for those who love growing plants. The apartments are also packed with good green ideas.

bokompakt interior 9

bokompakt interior 12

bokompakt interior 13

For instance, they are built entirely of wood and virtually self-sufficient in terms of heating, due to intelligent energy solutions such as solar panels and recycling of wastewater heat.

Bokompakt is in north-east Lund at Kämnärsrätten. The area is green, leafy, very pleasant and appreciated by students of all ages. The local neighbourhood centre has a wide range of shops and services, including a food store, chemist, post collection point, petrol station, pizzeria and cafés. If you like outdoor activities you are close to green open spaces and jogging tracks. The centre of Lund and all the university institutions are within easy cycling distance. Note that the Bokompakt apartments are built with an exemption from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s building regulations concerning accessibility requirements and therefore are not suitable for wheelchair users. If a visitor has difficulties using the toilet, there is an accessible toilet on the ground floor. The area is undergoing a period of change, which can mean disruption from nearby construction sites.

images courtesy of Photographer Bertil Hertzberg (Tengbom micro-house images), Tantumkok and AF Bostäder

AF Bostäder