Sustainable district in Malmö establishes a new international concept for student housing

Housing can be used as a tool for social policy. It’s more than just a roof over our heads, it’s connected to our identity and sense of belonging. According to the 2019 International Student Survey, housing also have a great impact on student’s academic results. Basecamp Malmö is an international housing concept that will function as a shared living community for students in Sweden’s first sustainability certified district.

The project achieved high environmental standards and is certified with BREEAM level “very good”. Basecamp Malmö will consist of 589 apartments including social spaces. The ground floor will have a reception, a café, and spaces to study. In the basement one will find a gym, movie theatre and a party venue.

” We are very excited to finally establish in Sweden. Malmö is an exciting city with a young and growing populations were the universities and the students will increase. We look forward to strengthening Malmö as an educational center, not the least by offering 589 students a proper home, says Armon Bar-Tur, partner and CEO for Basecamp Student.

Malmö is one of Sweden’s most rapidly growing cities, and almost half of the population are under 35 years old, which means that the potential number of students will increase coming years. Basecamp Malmö is strategically located in close connection to the university area, and the housing project will increase Malmö’s student housing offers with 30%.

Lars Gitz Arkitekter is the award-winning agency behind the project, and they had strict prerequisites, both from the city of Malmö and from the building regulations regarding the design requirements of student housing.

"Malmö municipality had drawn up a strict local plan for the area, which determined the maximum number of square meters that could be built and the maximum building height and facade height. It also determined how the buildings would be placed in the area. In addition, the Swedish building regulations had to be followed, where there are some precise requirements for the design of a student residence, such as corridor width, free surfaces in the residence, length of the kitchen table, minimum dimensions of the toilet/bathroom, etc. These requirements result in some disproportionately large homes and the size of the bath/toilet was a major challenge in the project. We wanted to do some smaller homes and instead focus on designing some good large common areas and focus on the social aspect. We also had to meet some strict financial requirements, as it is a youth housing development. The creative aspect for us was to design some exciting and beautiful coherent common premises that socially form the best possible social framework for the students' social interaction. In addition, we had little freedom to process the creative expression of the facades," says Lars.

What is important to consider when designing accommodation for students? What will the housing of the future look like?

"I believe that we as architects and builders have a great social responsibility when we create new housing for students. In this construction, we try to take a social responsibility by creating many different common premises that are a social meeting point for the individual student. In addition, for each approx. 20 residences created common social areas and kitchens, which should get the individual student out of the residence and participate in a less socially manageable community. In the housing construction of the future, there will be a much greater focus on society as a gathering point for the good life at all ages. The individual homes will be smaller and there will be more common areas. The generations will also become more intermingled”.

SAPA-customer: GlasLindberg
SAPA Products: SAPA Facade 4150 and SAPA Door 2086
Architect: Lars Gitz Architects
Entrepreneur: Veidekke