Abbedissan – a sustainable contribution towards a greener Malmö

Situated in the heart of Malmö is Vasakronan’s award-winning property Abbedissan (the Abbess), a climate-smart office building that received the City of Malmö’s environmental building award, Gröna Lansen (the Green Lance) in 2021. In its motivation for the award, the jury highlighted in particular the property’s climate-smart energy solution. The building is environmentally certified in accordance with LEED, level Platinum.

Assemblin has made multi-technical installations in the building in the areas of electrical engineering, heating and sanitation, ventilation and sprinklers, as well as in automation under assignment by the contractor, MVB.

Tina Lindquist, Contracting Manager at Assemblin Ventilation, coordinated the technical areas and was fully responsible for Assemblin’s assignment, which was conducted in a partnership format.

Intelligent energy use through control

The property is equipped with a geothermal energy plant that produces both heating and cooling locally. The facility comprises four heat pumps and 26 boreholes that collect energy from a depth of 350 metres. This solution supports not only Abbedissan, but also the neighbouring property. A roughly 1,000-m² solar plant is situated on the roof. Needs-driven ventilation, presence-controlled lighting and solar shading contribute to intelligent energy use. All in all, the technical solutions make the building highly energy efficient and, calculated in accordance with the rules set by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, the specific energy use amounts to slightly less than 17 kWh/m² annually (2022).

“Now that a couple of years have passed, it has been possible to measure the energy consumption in the building during operation, giving us more than just a theoretical calculation. Checking with the technicians who performed the measurements, the values agree well,” says Tina Lindquist.

Various stone materials and 30 types of glass in the façade

By selecting appropriate systems and products, Assemblin helped Vasakronan and White Arkitekter secure the City of Malmö’s environmental building award, Gröna Lansen 2021, for Abbedissan. The property was completed in 2020 and comprises 13,000 m² over seven stories of office space, shop premises and parking, as well as a rooftop terrace. The facade comprises a mix of bricks, granite, travertine and fibre concrete elements combined with large glass sections with more than 30 different types of glass. Behind the unique and attention-grabbing rooftop therapy garden is a team of researchers, psychologists, doctors and healthcare staff, as well as White Arkitekter.