Thursday, September 13, 2012

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.
courtyard and pergola
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.

bike parking in courtyard
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 in the courtyard
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).

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

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