Ting1 in Örnsköldsvik

Ting1 in Örnsköldsvik is one of Sweden’s most unique residential buildings. Not just because of the colours and unique architecture, but also because of the way it is built. In addition, the whole building is heated using ground source heat pumps from NIBE.

The Tingshuset (Courthouse) in the centre of Örnsköldsvik is a listed concrete building from 1967. The low building with its atrium courtyard gave birth to the idea of building a new residential building above and inside the existing one.

A new property company ”Nyberg, Kai & Wingårdh” with the famed architect Gert Wingårdh as a part owner was created and the project took shape.

The 50 metre high building was also designed by Gert Wingårdh. The building is built on an 8 x 8 metre base in the courtyard of the courthouse and expands to its full width above the roof of the courthouse. At no point is there any physical contact between the two buildings; they are two different properties, created through so called “three dimensional property creation”.

The characteristic glass balconies protrude on all the sides of the facade – 78 in total, shared between the 51 apartments.

The bold and warm colour theme is unique and inspired by the paintings of Bengt Lindström.

Ground source heated

All of the building’s 4000 m2 of living area are heated by NIBE ground source heat pumps, likewise the 1145 m2 of the courthouse underneath.

“We have installed four NIBE F1345 units”, explains Patrik Åhman at NIBE.

“Three of them each have a 60 kW output, and the fourth has 40 kW. The three large ones each work to a 1000 litre heater, and the smaller to one of 750. In total 24 boreholes were drilled, each to a depth of 250 metres. It has all been combined in a single installation carried out by Bravida, but the smaller heat pump is only used to provide heating and hot water for the “under” building, which still houses the District Court in Örnsköldsvik.”

The district heating network which runs along the edge of the plot is connected to give supplementary heating on cold days.

“It is interesting to show that one can heat such large buildings using standard products straight ‘off the shelf’. A lot of builders and property owners still believe that one must have purpose built solutions, but time after time we have shown that this is completely unnecessary” says Patrik.