Stockholm square creates a meeting place in the city

Nivå Landskapsarkitektur has designed a square in central Stockholm that is sympathetic to the architecture of its surroundings, while also modernising and updating the area. 

Brunkebergstorg is an 8,700-m2 space on Drottninggatan, the Norrmalm street running parallel to the area’s main shopping strip. Once an important central site in the city, by the second half of the 20th century it was barely used.

Niva’s aim was to create a central meeting place in the city, combining the city’s history with recognition of the way in which it is developing and expanding. They say that, “the whole gives an experience of elegance and solidity that corresponds to the architecture of the site, but also adds a contemporary, playful and poetic atmosphere that contrasts with it.”

The Brunkebergstorg Square project set out to create a central meeting place in the city. Image credit - Robin Hayes.

Brunkebergstorg is not a classic square shape as it occurs where the city’s grid structure meets and changes direction. The ground is made from Swedish granite that stretches from façade to façade, interrupted only by a narrow street, Malmtorgsgatan. The granite is cut in three different sizes with four different treatments, creating a striped pattern with a random rhythm.

Along Malmtorgsgatan, Nivå have created a wide pedestrian walkway in a continuation of the square’s granite paving, and lined it with magnolias.

Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, forms the backdrop to the square, and the softness of the stone details in Brunkebergstorg have been inspired by its façade. 

Brunkebergstorg has brought the once dormant area back to life. Image credit - Robin Hayes.

Formal and informal seating has been provided for people of all ages, as well as trees that offer shade. The northern part of the square features a space that is both central and open, and ideal to be used for events.

Circular benches wrap around the square’s fountains, structures which feature perforated steel screens that light up at night. These fountains also cover the ventilation system for the underground parking below.

All the materials used in Brunkebergstorg are designed to be durable over time.

Work began on the project in 2017. Image credit - Robin Hayes.