Architecture in Skellefteå

The architecture and city building in Skellefteå stretches further than to the city of Skellefteå in 1845. There is a church that is older, and the Skellefteå parish has roots to the 1300s. By the end of the 19th century, Skellefteå’s inhabitants grew to only a few thousand people, but in the 1900s, the population increased in the urban area to over 30,000.

A number of city plans have characterized architectural developments. There is the grid city (1843), the city of Esplanades (1883), the garden city (1905) and the functional city (1948).

Overview and Population
Skelleftea gained city status in 1845, but the area around the country parish church is considerably older and Skellefteå parish was formed in the 1300s. Here at a place in the Skellefte River there was a church and trading venue that subsequently developed into a city-like society. To the east of the church site was Körran (Nordanå) which became a training site in Skellefteå with the officers’ residence in the 1700s. The village church’s village came after a fire to be placed in between. The area between the Prästbord and Boströmsbäcken was 1804 onedeer-marshmallow and, with the exception of some barns, were undeveloped. The settlement in the 19th century is located east of Boströmsbäcken and next to the river. Down by the river (current district of Strömsör) lies a larger farm building, probably what would be the Manor Strömsör.

The demand for urbanization in Skellefte river valley increased. On the initiative of the church leader Nils Nordlander, Skellefteå was founded in the town of Norrböle. It was despite the hard opposition from the citizens of Umeå and Piteå, which had the trade rights, which Skellefteå received city privileges in 1845. The city’s location was determined by the proximity of the church, the trading venue, the port and accessibility to the town of Norrböle. At the heart of what became a city lay before the first city plan’s establishment, the manor Hägglunda, as a crown lender and courtman Nils Clausénbuilt around 1830. The building lay a bit on the site in the corner of the present Nygatan / Stationsgatan, north of the place where the present Stadshotellet is located. Just before the city plan was erected, the manor was moved, probably to Lejonström and from about 1920 probably to the Lärkan district, where it still remains today.

In the 1880s an island planning system developed and a strong expansion occurred in the early 20th century, and development was marked by PO Hallman’s city plan from 1905. From 1945 onwards, the city was undergoing modernization and many of the older buildings were demolished.

Population development (the city of Skellefteå)
1845: three farms
1855: 200 inhabitants.
1860s: 3-400 inhabitants
1867: population increased from 442 to 447 during the year.
1887: “slightly more than 1,000 inhabitants”.
1930: 5 203 inhabitants
1950: 12 217 inhabitants
1970: 27 456 inhabitants
1995: 31 940 inhabitants
2009: approximately 32,000 inhabitants
City plans
Sandströms plan 1843 – grid city
The first city plan for Skellefteå was established on September 16, 1843 by land surveyor Carl Erik Sandström from Umeå, long before there was any royal decision on city planning. The city plan is a classical grid town with two squares, 27 building blocks (about 100 x 100 meters) and 20 square (12 meters) wide streets (with wooden pavements). The classicalThe ideal was expressed by repeating individual identical elements (blocks) according to the principle of regularity. The straight street and the rectangular quarter were regarded as orderly matters with decisive aesthetic and practical significance. In the foundation of Storgatan lies the Church of the Land. On July 10, 1845, the land surveyor returned – now with a royal decree in his hand. The land surveyor had the task of ” forwarding to the land office in Umeå,” the assigned property and the competent evidence therewith, promptly ” forward. On January 9, 1846, the governor proposed a building schemefor Skellefteå city in the town of Norrböle city. The building scheme was based on Sandström’s plan in which he had marked two plots at the square (current city park) for official buildings and where the streets were marked with numbers only. The building scheme was established by Kungl. May 8th, 1846.

Town Plan 1883 – City of Esplanades

In 1874, the new building statute, which with its intentions on movement, health, fire protection and beauty, affected the city plan in 1883 a lot. For Skellefteå this results in two esplanades; In the northern boundary of the city along the canal / drainage dike, the east-west Kanalgatan was pulled and in the newly purchased district east of Boströmsbäcken was loaded in the north-south direction Viktoriaesplanaden / Viktoriagatan (now E4).

This street was named 1882 ” in memory of the Crown Princess Victoria’s entry into the country “. Square is reported in the neighborhood of today’s city park and in front of a planned, future city church. The square, however, is moved already 1886 from the present city park to its current location. In 1888 the new city park and the first water pipes were opened in 1898.

Hallman’s Plan 1905 – the garden town

PO Hallman’s city plan combines Camillo Sit’s ideas about the medieval city’s qualities with English contemporary ideas about the garden city.

The area outside the grid city receives a greener structure with winding streets and public buildings in the fund of important streets, such as Nygatan with the City Church in the east. A railway station is planned into the fund of today’s Stationsgatan, with what will be Parkbron at the other end.

Small public places are proposed in many places, including in front of the City Church. The strictly allotted Kanalgatan is widened with the Victoria planade getting a softer, more park-like design.

It is only now the earlier, expansive city plans intentions on urban development east of the Victoria planade and north of Kanalgatan infrias. The new neighborhoods Norrböle, Älvsbacka and Prästbordet look at the light of the day, like the Läroverket.

Lilienberg’s plan 1920 – the garden city continues

Albert Lilienberg’s city plan, builds on Hallman’s ideas. The railway with the railway station in the foundation of Stationsgatan is built. The city church was built in 1925 in the foundation of Nygatan and Kanalskolan is built in the foundation of Kanalgatan. Among other things, Norrböle is still characterized by the garden’s intentions of the plan, with large leafy plots of which max 1/5 was built with houses that had a maximum of five apartments. Lilienberg’s plan is also the start of quarterly names in Skellefteå.

Åhréns plan 1948 – the functional city
Uno Åhrén’s general plan expresses the functionalist ideals of the day about good function, light and air. The old buildings are to be replaced with dissolved quarters and larger houses. The importance of buildings increases towards the design of the public spaces between the houses (streets, squares and parks). The plan does not get any major impact, although many houses eventually came to demolish. Older houses are torn to make room for new, larger houses in brick, with all modernities that are now possible. Nygatan takes more and more of Storgatan’s role as the big shopping street.

SCAFT Plan 1970 – City of Traffic Managers
The forecasts showed that car traffic would continually increase in the future. With the help of SCAFT-SCAUT, a research team from Chalmers University of Technology, 1970 was completed a traffic planning plan for Skellefteå. The grid plan with its esplanades previously unaffected was now reviewed. The street system got a geometry that completely followed the conditions of the car; streets closed off, parking lots and new lanes broke the esplanades and the sharp corners of the street intersections were rounded off. The plan was also to construct a motorbike around the city.

Center Plan 1993 – City at the river
The construction of the previous decades meant that the center needed more space. With campus Skería since 1986/87 (” Skelleftea Education and Research for Industrial Applications “, current Campus Skelleftea) on the south side of the river, it becomes even more necessary to convert Sörböle a part of the center. The river now becomes an important part of the city’s planning. The Center Center 93 also includes the controversial new Center Bridge in Lasarettsvägen’s extension.

Construction at different times

Building before 1845
Majorsbostället Nyborg was built in 1764
Skellefteå National Assembly Church, in its present form from the 18th century, but dating back to the 1300s.
Herrgård Hägglund from 1830, number (probably) moved to kv Lærkan
The church houses in Bonnstan at the church of Skellefteå, dating back to the 17th century.

Building 1845-1945
The city city of wood
As early as 1848 18 houses were ready, half of them in two full floors. The largest houses are built at Storgatan in the western part and around the square (Nuv Stadsparken). North along Nygatan and Kanalgatan, the houses are small and the original plots split in the middle. It had occurred in the 1880s on about 25 of the original square plots. The house of the first-generation house, in the mid 1800’s, became the castle yard, the box-like two-story house in timber with twine bread and a flat walnut ceiling. The type was common in most Norwegian and Finnish cities from the 18th centuryending in the last century, but the appearance of the facades changed. In addition to the main building, the “farm” belonged to the street also included economic buildings of various kinds. In Skellefteå they were reefed or dressed in stone-like lining. During the first decades, the panels are of Finnish empire type with brick-embossing, wide, horizontal boards, friezes, profiled roofing lists and window corners. Then, towards the end of the 19th century, the houses became more drawn by the novel fair. Yet in 1950, Skellefteå exhibited a fairly uniform cityscape, and a number of the courtyards that grew up after the city’s foundation still stands today, such as the building memory Markstedtska farm. The largest of the first-generation houses, the first town hall, was revolted in 1955.

The first generation house in the city
Time-old castle in Finnish empire from the middle of the 19th century (Utterströms, Storgatan).
Skellefteå’s first town hall from 1863.
Old Lagergrens. New Year’s Eve style from the end of the 19th century (Höken 6, Stationsgatan, built in 1848).
Häggblomska huset. Panel architecture in a new Renaissance style from the end of the 19th century (E4 / Nygatan).

National romance and the new woodstyle
By the end of the 19th century, the new wooden tile came to Skellefteå. It is spread across the country with the National Railways wooden buildings (like the Byskemodel) and through pattern books. Imitation of stone buildings now avoided, instead looking to exploit wood material and träteknikens own decorative possibilities, specializing in national romanticism. The facades are divided into fields with a checkered framework and fillings of boards on different joints.

Many houses, preferably larger and more official, continue with the stone style.

Förkrigsbyggnader
The railway station in Jörn, designed in 1893 by Adolf W. Edelsvärd and Folke Zettervall.
St. Olov’s Church from 1927. Architects Gustav Adolf Falk and Knut Nordenskjöld
Läroverket, drawn in 1915 by Hagström & Ekman (now Skellefteå museum).
former Skellefteå savings bank (today Ramus music), drawn 1912-14 by Viktor Åström.
Billowska house on Älvsbacka.

Building since 1945
Egnahemmen and the brick towns
In the 1940s and 50s, Swedish housing policy led to an increase in housing construction in Skellefteå. Egnahem and lamella houses on three floors succeeded in the former small apartment buildings in the garden town building. During this time, several schools, churches, sports and swimming pools were built, many of them in bricks. Among other things, the office house Hjorten and Odentorget are from this time.

Tile buildings from the 50’s
former Scandinavian bank, drawn in 1941 by Kjell Ödeen and Gunnar Wejke and a model for the 50’s house.
The old town hall from 1955 in the neighborhood deer drawn by Ivar and Anders Tengbom
Skellefteå district court from 1955 by Bengt Romare.
Odentorget and Nygatan.
former fire station by city architect Bergenudd. Today, the Technical Office.

Million Program
The next step in housing policy was the so-called milestone program 1965-75 with the goal of a million new housing. Such an extensive building necessitated all the new neighborhoods. In Skellefteå, the districts of the Singing Valley, Anderstorp and some later Morö Backe with different styles were added: The singing valley with three separate areas (multi-family houses, terraced houses and detached villages) with a center in the middle, Anderstorp low and tight (two floors) according to Danish model with a higher building in the center, as well as villas and group houses on Morö Backe. Even the Moröhöjden district was added during this time. Even extensive demolitions occurred during this era, with the stated ambition of the rulers to give the city a modern and well-functioning center.
The bell height of the Singing Valley (1970s)
Moröhöjden (late 1960s)

1990s
The years around 1990 meant a small newbuilding tree, both for housing and premises. Anderstorp was complemented with the river, and Norrböle was extended to the north with a new area, Erikslid, which received a partly correct strong postmodern expression.

Skellefteå new town hall from 1982 by Tengboms.
The punk house at Klockarberget at Erikslid from 1989, by architect Per Tobé.
View from Erikslid center towards bridge designed by Leif Bolter and first part of Erikslid (kv Bygget, 1994), designed by architect Olle Forsgren.
Erikslid Center (Kv Eriksbo, 1996) by architect Lennart Nilsson.
Corner balconies, Erikslid center (Kv Eriksbo)
One of the three American homes on the US island of Tuböle. Drawn 1991-1993 by John Johansson, Karin Nyberg and Lennart Sjögren.

City of the day
Then it took more than 15 years before the construction started again, now with industrial wood construction (housing) at Älvsbacka and in the center (kv Ekorren) as part of the national woodbuilding strategy, but also with traditional building in concrete, for example in the Nipan at Parkbron southern mount. The external trade center Solbacken is also established during this period. In spring 2011, the council adopted a new in- depth overview plan for the central parts of the municipality, Skelleftedalen. There was stated another mix of Central town (including earlier northern Sörböle at the river) can now be denser and higher, up to 6-8 floors instead of today’s 3-4.

Today’s buildings
Skellefteå Krafts office building from 1964 by architect Lennart Nilsson with the addition in copper from 2009 by General Architecture.
Skellefteå Kraft Arena from 1966, heavily rebuilt in 2007 under architect Rolf Marklund.
Älvsbacka Beach, White Architects 2006-2010.
kv Ekorren from 2009 by AIX Architects.
Stadshotellet under reconstruction of 2011 by Monarchen architects.

Neighborhoods
In Skellefteå there are 24 districts, but also parts like Ursviken, Tuvan and Vitberget are included. In the real city there are 14 districts. Some of the districts are divided into neighborhood areas.

Quarter Name in Skellefteå
Quarter names in Skellefteå have been documented since at least 1922. Although they are not used directly by Skellefteholders in general, they are often the lives of individuals indirectly, because they often give rise to names of businesses: Hagen, Odentorget Square, IT company Sirius IT with several.

Square and Parks

City Square
The city center’s first square and market place was in the present city park, but moved to its current location in 1886. The square now carries the name of Possibilities Square and has its current form of landscape architect Jan Räntfors. The square has been adorned since 1995 by a contested granite sculpture by artist Bo Holmlund. Another square is Odentorget, which is bordered by three storey high brick houses, the square and the surrounding houses were renovated in 2005.

Other squares and other open spaces in Skellefteå

Anders Market
Morö Backe square
Oden Square
south Square
Victoria Square

City Parker
The city’s main park is the city park from 1888, which was located on the old square square, replaced by the current Possibilities Square in 1886. The park is adorned by the fountain Johanna, designed in 1898 to pay attention to the city’s first water pipelines. Every year since the 1920’s, cacti are planted in the park.

The Nordanå area, which is Skellefteå’s cultural and recreation area to the west of the center, is an important park area.

Bridges, streets and buildings

Bridges and streets
The city’s brother
Lejonströmsbron, 1737
Park Bridge, 1913
Viktoriabron, 1961
The wooden bridges along the Klockarberg trail, the 1990s
Älvsbackabron, 2011.
More important streets
Kanalgatan
North Railway Street
Nygatan
Skråmträsk road
Stationsgatan
Torsgatan
Tradgardsgatan
Viktoriagatan
Eastern Member

Buildings
Below is a selection of buildings that can be considered representative of Skellefteå and its development. Many of them today are protected in one way or another and appear in the city maps and guidebooks.

Skellefteå National Assembly Church, the body of late medieval origin, but in its present form drawn in the late 1700s by Jacob Rijf.
Ömanshuset (Kv Haren), 1848.
First City Hall, 1861. Drawn by First Nikanor Sandström and later Wilhelm Essen.
Häggblomska huset (Furniture shop at E4, Kv Brage), 1889.
Old seminar, 1907. Drawn by Viktor Åström.
Ahrmfeldtska villa, formerly KFUM’s house (kv Kastor), 1914.
Läroverket (number Skellefteå museum), 1915. Drawn by Hagström & Ekman, with grandpa and theater by Paul Hedqvist in 1937.
Skellefteå lasarett, 1916. Originally created by Ernst Stenhammar.
The neighborhood of Renen including the Billowska villa (moved to Storgatan from the cape residence Sunnanå 4 years 1896. Moved to Kyrkgränd 2017) and the “Gula villa” (1910) and Kamrer Andersson’s house (1915).
Sparbankshuset (kv Gladan, former Ramus). Ritat as Skellefteå savings bank 1912-14 by Viktor Åström.
St. Olov’s Church, 1925. Drawn by G Falk and K Nordenskjöld.
Canal School Skellefteå (Q Tor), 1932. Drawn by John Åkerlund.
Brothers Andersson, Köpmangatan 10 (kv Haren). Drawn in 1934 by Birger Dahlberg.
Centrumhuset (kv Loke, by the square), designed in 1934 by architect Birger Dahlberg.
Scandinavian bank (formerly Gallerian, Kv Höken). Drawn in 1941 by Kjell Ödeen and Gunnar Wejke
Technical Department House (Old Fire and Police Station, Kv Oden) 1954 by Edvin Bergenudd.
former house of the people and the Pan Hall (former CeGe, now the House of the Youth of the Youth) (1952), 1956 John Windell, FHR Architectural Agency, Stockholm.
The Old Post Office (Kv Polaris) 1954 by Lars-Erik Lallerstedt.
Former town hall, 1955 (kv hjorten). Drawn by Tengboms.
Skellefteå District Court, 1955 (Kvunnsgården). Drawn by Bengt Romare.
RiksCity (“Cityhuset”, “Åhlénshuset”, kv Lekatten), 1957 Åke Östin, Stockholm.
Köpmangården (Kv Heimdall), built 1884-1928 for a cafe Lilla Marie et al.
Avenyhuset, 1960 (kv Loke). Drawn by Alf Lundqvist Architectural Office.
Polishuset, 1970s by Lars Hultén at Bo Tjernström Architectural Office (Kv Måsen)
The Sirius neighborhood with Expolaris and Skellefteå Krafts house (designed by Lennart Nilsson 1964 and General Architecture 2006-2009) and Scandic Hotel.
Anderstorp’s church. Drawn in 1983 by Olle Forsgren in a parish home from 1974 by Jan Johansson.
Punkthuset at Klockarberget, 1989 (kv Lidgärdet). Drawn by Per Tobé.
Opportunities Square. In its current form, it was drafted by Jan Räntfors in 1988.
Stadshuset (Brinken) (kv Korpen), 1993. Drawn by Tengbom’s architectural office.
American House, three houses on Tuböle. Drawn 1991-1993 by John Johansson, Karin Nyberg and Lennart Sjögren.
Residential house and wooden car park (kv Ekorren). Drawn 2009 by Magnus Silfverhielm at AIX Architects.
Älvsbacka beach (kv Sparvhöken). Ritat 2008-10 by Lennart Sjögren at White Architects.
Skellefteå Krafts new office building. Drawn 2009 by Josef Eder and others. at General Architecture.

Buildings in Skellefteå city
The longing at Anderstorp (Färjegatan), built 1795.
Majorsbostället Nyborg, built in 1764 after typographies by JE Carlberg and Carl Hårleman.
Markstedtska farm (kv Falken 5), designed by Johan Laurentz in 1881.
East and West gathus, kv Haren 9
Skellefteå church city, Bonnstan
Södra gathuset, kv Ekorren 4 “Garvare Andersson Farm”, built in 1857.
Anderstorps farm, (Elevhemsgatan), built around 1875.
Lejonströmsbron, built in 1737.
Cultural environments of national interest in Skellefteå
Skellefteå parish center

Town Architects in Skellefteå
KG Dahlberg (City Builder) 1906-1936
Tore Thörngren (Head of the City Engineer and Building Office) 1931-
Edvin Bergenudd 1937-1952
Poul Stampe (Acting) 1952
Bengt Brunnström 1952-1986
Göran Åberg 1986-1997
Olle Forsgren 1997-1999
Lars Berg (acting) 1999-2004
Annette Lindgren Atterhem (Head of Planning and Construction) 2004-2008
Harriet Wistemar (Municipal Architect) 2008-

Source from Wikipedia