better look at our courtyard in Vastra Hamnen

here's a quick better look at the courtyard in Vastra Hamnen on Riggaregatan.  basically you can see three of the four sides of the courtyard.

east side of the courtyard looking down onto the pergola and public benches.  note the grills under the pergola and the diverse vegetation as well as the simplicity of materials

the bike parking is under the green roof.  the metal cylinder in the courtyard is connected to the food waste to biogas conversion process.  I don't have a definitive answer yet on whether it is where the waste is settling before it is pumped or if it is connected to some kind of fan to keep pressure from building up.  I will keep exploring and get back to you on that.

a better shot of the green roof bike parking.  it's just a little corrugated metal tray with thin sedum laid down almost like sod.  nothing complicated.  keeping the bikes mostly dry. 

the balconies in this area are all different, but most apartments have balconies and the ones that do not are seen as less desirable.  in fact, supposedly one of the biggest weaknesses of getting a place at the turning torso is that there is no outside to access.  you can only open the windows a tiny bit and you cannot directly access the outside without going down to the base and walking out the front door.

balconies are all treated somewhat similarly but with plenty of variation in terms of specifics.  most people have a place to sit and a little table, some have indoor and others outdoor funrniture, such as the comfy couches.  some people bring up their bikes and lots of people have plants (one place even has astroturf).

south/ southeast side of the courtyard looking out toward newest construction happening in Vastra Hamnen.  mostly standing seam and green roofs in this direction although you can also see some serious solar thermal on a roof in the distance about two courtyards past this one.

I must say that I do not see as many people spending lots of time in the courtyard as I thought I would.  there are personal grills under the pergola and lots of people walk through to their apartments or to get their bikes, but in general not many people actually set up a picnic or play lawn games.  maybe you don't want to spend lots of time in a place where lots of people are looking down on you?  a little rear window ish?  maybe more people are out in the summer?  there are definitely people out on their balconies all throughout the days and evenings though.

vine just starting to grow up tension cable, planted below balconies on the western side of courtyard

green roofs are... awesome!

most of the buildings in Vastra Hamnen have either a solar thermal collector, solar panels, a green roof, or a combination of all of these things.  all of the neighborhood either creates its own energy or gets it from 100% renewable sources such as a wind turbine in the nearby harbor that supplies the electricity for approximately 600-800 apartment units.  more on energy when I really have time to sit down and get into it, but for now, just imagine that this is awesome.

there is a plot coverage quota here that needs to achieve a certain level per plot to be allowed to build on the site.  the system is pretty simple: you need to reach a certain level of "green" surfaces with the goal of improving the quality of the nearby environment and micro climate.  Strategies that are rated highest (1 point) are ones that mitigate stormwater through absorption, collection, and retention and also collect CO2 and promote biodiversity and improve ecosystems in the neighborhood.  Strategies that score bad (0 points) are "sealed" or completely impermeable.  In the middle is everything else (like semi permeable and water)  I haven't seen the actual chart but I believe it looks something like this:

• 0.0 - impermeable/ sealed
• 0.4 - gravel or sand
• 0.8 - green roof
• 1.0 - ground level vegetation
• 1.0 - water

this scoring system has been very successful in helping keep the local area from producing too much runoff and from getting too burdened by the heat island effect that plagues most major cities in the world.  the neighborhood, according to residents, stays quite cool even on hot summer days thanks to a light sea breeze and an extensive (pun intended) network of green roofs and other permeable spaces.

I woke up this morning and looked out the window and saw a bird on my roof.  then I noticed a bird on the next roof over.  rinse and repeat.  lots of birds.  lots of green roofs...

bird on the green roof across to the west of mine

view over green roof to the sea

access walkway to reach mechanical equipment without walking on vegetation

extensive green roof.  zero maintenance.

bird on the roof outside my window

looking across the courtyard to the south

looking southwest toward the middle of Vastra Hamnen