The curved building in Bergsjön, commonly known as the Banana House, has been Familjebostäder’s problem child since the company took it over in about 2000. The gigantic semi-subterranean house was built in the “Million Program” era of the 1960s, and suffered extensive neglect and vandalism. 20 apartments were condemned and Familjebostäder considered both total renovation and demolition. The building contractor Serneke was commissioned to carry out a total overhaul of both the building and its surroundings. Bengt Dahlgren’s task was to design the plumbing and energy calculation.
“The Million Program houses are not particularly energy efficient and there are large savings to be made with regard to energy recovery,” says Peter Orrö, which was responsible for designing the pipework in Tellushuset.
The building was purged almost completely, except for the frame and certain parts of the basement area. Part of the district heating plant was rebuilt and all the water, sewage and heating pipes are new. In some places it needed relining, in other words, new pipes were laid in the old ones.
There was no shortage of challenges, because we needed to pay a great deal of attention to the existing structures. This included the old shelters, which we cannot rebuild in any way we wanted. The solution was to peel off a bit of the floor above, as well as go in sideways and cast.
Bengt Dahlgren was also responsible for preparing the energy calculation for the Tellusgatan project. That measurement was made based on the Swedish National Housing Board’s building regulations (BBR), and the tender documentation for Tellusgatan included a requirement for max. 70 kWh per square metre per year.
“The result was 56.5 kWh, which is a very good result. This is due in large part to the building’s brand new facade, which stopped much of the energy leakage,” concludes Peter Orrö.