The construction of the Albano campus has been underway since the autumn of 2015 and the planning of the area as far back as 2006. Although groundwork is still ongoing and will continue to do so for another year, the autumn semester of 2022 still marks a heavy and important milestone: the four new buildings, which comprise a total of 70,000 square metres of new university premises, are ready and can be filled with life and movement.
"We are now in place with operations in campus Albano and look forward to being part of the inspiring environment that is emerging in the area," says Maria Granath, Deputy Head of Property Management at KTH.
In addition to the new university premises, 1,000 student and researcher housing will also be built here, as well as landscaped parks, shops and restaurants. With its strategic location a stone's throw from Stockholm city, Campus Albano strengthens the links between the city's universities and forms a new district that is vibrant regardless of the time of day.
"It's great to see the hustle and bustle of the premises and I'm convinced that the new university campus will be appreciated by students, teachers and staff. The project has placed some demands on us to get everything to work as planned. But thanks to experience from the previous move-ins, the last move-in to Building 1 went very smoothly. Albano is a place for higher education and research with good conditions for meetings and collaborations across subject and departmental boundaries," says Rikard Nilsson, Head of Section for Premises and Housing Supply at the Division of Real Estate at Stockholm University.
Sustainability role model
The development of the Albano campus into a modern university environment has taken place in harmony with nature and with the aim of becoming a role model in sustainable urban planning. From having historically been a green area, Albano was transformed in the 1900s into an industrial area split in the middle of the Värtabanan railway tracks. Building in this environment has therefore placed high demands on both process and execution. The solution was to build the area in terraces over Värtabanan and thus encapsulate freight traffic.
As a testament to sustainability success, Albano is the first campus in Sweden to be certified according to Citylab, a sustainability certification that does not only cover a single building but includes an entire urban development project.
At Albano, new water systems have been created to take care of stormwater, but also an improved microclimate and outdoor environments that have been designed to strengthen the dispersal routes for plants and animals. Through green roofs with large open roof terraces to which students, staff and also the public have access, the university buildings are an integral part of the park environment. And to ensure that the buildings are as energy-efficient as possible, Akademiska Hus has also equipped the roofs with solar cells.
Completed on time and on budget – despite a pandemic
Akademiska Hus has invested a total of approximately SEK 3 billion in the development of Albano. Despite the fact that the pandemic hit in the final stage of the project, the work has proceeded according to schedule and budget, thanks in part to a digital way of working that was implemented at an early stage.
"We have been part of an exciting digital journey with new ways of working and our sights set on a sustainable future. The area was just a gravel pitch when we started and now we have been able to give back greenery and restore part of the National City Park. It feels fantastic," says Sara Tyberg, project manager at Akademiska Hus.
Actors campus Albano
Plan owners: City of Stockholm
Tenants: Stockholm University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Builder: Akademiska Hus (university premises) and Svenska Bostäder (student and researcher housing)
Architects: BSK Arkitekter, Cedervall Arkitekter, Arkitema and Christensen & Co Architects (university premises), Tyréns, Brunnberg & Forshed, Tovatt Architects and Planners and Joliark (student and researcher housing) and Nivå Landskapsarkitektur (outdoor environments)