OHBOY the bicycle house Ohboy is designed for the future. It houses 55 apartments and 31 hotel rooms with smart and simple solutions for a modern, urban life. Ohboy is a transformation of the requirements and challenges of society, turned into architecture. As of today, one of the main focal points of city policies is modern mobility - often defined by the bicycle. METHOD FOR THE BIGGER PERSPECTIVE hauschild+siegel as architects and developers are in charge of the whole process from start to finish a key aspect to get a holistic perspective and have the freedom to experiment with new ideas and solutions along the way. CREATING A NEW SYSTEM OF MOBILITY The project started in the experience of living in a city that is becoming more and more bike-friendly, while building codes are still stuck in car-centered ideology. The answer is to focus on creating possibilities for a generally sustainable lifestyle - in mobility as well as consumption. In Sweden, a big stumbling block for a dense city is the requirement to provide a set number of car parking spaces, so to challenge that would give space and money for a new system of mobility. For roughly the same cost as car parking, we developed an alternative mobility model adapted for the city of today. THE BICYCLE DIMENSION Taking the bicycle as a starting point gives a new dimension to architectural design. Just as the airplane in the 1920 s made it possible to view buildings from above and so changed the practice, the bicycle now adds the next layer. Bicycles up to the rooftop, into the apartments - the bicycle is no longer bound to the ground. FEATURES FOR A SMART LIVING Wider door openings and extra parking spaces make it possible to bring a cargo bike all the way to the fridge. With service stations it is easy to keep the bike clean, pumped and in good condition. A bicycle share with specially built cargo bikes covers needs for transportations of goods and friends. Delivery boxes makes online shopping convenient. Gift card for the public transport, and membership in a car share is also part of the concept. The hotel rooms include a foldable bike and have their own street entrance, with a small garden and bicycle parking. ECOLOGY & MATERIALITY Of course the dense city is green. Generous planting boxes on the balconies and a varied vegetation on roofs, facades and courtyards contributes to a greater biodiversity good for you, the city, the bees and the planet. The building uses geothermal heating from the plot, and solar cells on the roof decreases the need for external energy sources. The concrete facade relates to the skate park in front, and also provides a quiet indoor environment despite the neighbouring skaters. WORKING LOCAL For the furnishing and decoration of the hotel rooms local designers were consulted, with production and materials mainly from the south of Sweden. In the foyer of the building is a mural painting by the Malmö-based illustrator Sara Granér.
Section diagram Hotel on floor 0-1, apartments on floor 2-5, duplex apartments on floor 6-7. On the 8th floor is the communal orangerie and roof terrace. To the right: Lush garden on the north side, hotel rooms and entrance balconies, cargo bike on the entrance balcony and the communal orangerie on top.
Photo: Joan Cardenal 2017. Typical floor plan 1:200 Most apartments enter from a balcony to the north, and face the southern sun and the skate park to the south.
Photo: Ossian Karlsson 2017. Section hotel room 1:50 The hotel rooms have separate entrances to the street, contributing to a lively and lush cityscape. Staircase and floor in ash wood complement the concrete.
Object name: Ohboy Address: Lilla Varvsgatan 24-211 75 Malmö - Sweden Size: 3922 sqm, 55 aptms + 31 hotel rooms Completion: June 2017