Unique housing concept mixes bee hotel with car barn
In Nya Remonthagen in Östersund, housing will be integrated with research, meeting places and cultivation - all with a focus on sustainability. Now the district has a new website where anyone who wants to can come up with ideas.
The goal of New Remonthagen is to create an area where sustainable urban planning is combined with ecological lifestyles in harmony with nature. Here, condominiums and rental apartments are mixed with terraced houses, log cabins and meeting rooms with beautiful green spaces, gardens, different kinds of cultivation and art. Behind the plans is Jamtli Living University, JLU, with the initiator and project manager Kevin Denham at the forefront.
"JLU is a unique concept that we started with four years ago," says Kevin Denham, who graduated as an Eco-Engineer at Mid Sweden University in 2015.
"The goal is simple, we want to build a modern city district where learning and innovation are integrated. The university, civil society, the business community, the municipality and the region are all involved in the work, and for Jamli it is about taking an active role in the social change.
Kevin Denham
From bee hotel to parking barn
The core of the project, according to Kevin Denham, is a dialogue between community actors and the public. During several workshops and dialogue meetings, ideas have been presented, visions have been changed and sketches have been redrawn. A sketch that includes about 170 homes has now been completed. The homes are designed as low-rise buildings that form courtyards with shared green space. Even the chimneys are adapted for biodiversity with both bee hotels and birdhouses. No cars are intended to be able to park in the area, but are relegated to a mobility center in the form of a barn with solar cells that charge the cars. There are also common rooms in the parking barn.
"The dialogue continues. The website is ready now and we would like the public to continue to come up with ideas, the new Remonthagen is an area of and for Östersund, says Kevin Denham.
During the summer, the municipality has completed consultation documents that can be sent for consultation if approved when the municipal executive board next meets. If everything goes according to plan, construction of the area can begin in two to three years and thus perhaps be completed by 2028-2029.
"It's a great fit, in Östersund we are working towards becoming climate neutral by 2030. If it's done by then, we can really have an example of how we've worked with sustainability.
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