When the grand Östermalmshallen market hall in Stockholm needed to be renovated in 2016, it was necessary to find a solution that allowed the operations in Östermalmshallen to continue without interruption. Source: Timberbiz
The solution: to build a temporary building that could be reused. The temporary market hall was built entirely from wood, using materials such as Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL. When the renovation of Östermalmshallen was completed and the temporary structure had served its purpose, real estate company Wallenstam purchased the building to find a new use for it.
“This reuse project is one of a kind in Sweden. We disassembled a fully functioning market hall in Stockholm, moved it to a new location 500 kilometres away in Mölnlycke just outside Gothenburg, and reassembled the building to fulfil its new purpose as a padel hall. It really is unique,” said Johan Wuollet, Project Manager for Wallenstam.
It took just over a year to complete the project, including disassembling, storing and reassembling it in Mölnlycke, 
where it has now been inaugurated. The concept is based on prefabricated wooden elements. The roof structure consists of Kerto LVL beams laid out in a grid-like pattern, which makes for a stronger structure and smaller material consumption.
“It was very smooth working with Kerto LVL beams during disassembly. Much of what is constructed today is discarded way too soon or because it cannot be adapted for new uses. Instead of demolishing buildings, we should reuse every possible product in them – or the entire building, as was done in this case,” Wuollet said.
In the long term, Johan Wuollet believes that it will become an industry requirement that buildings can be disassembled or flexibly adapted for different purposes, because the construction industry is currently responsible for a large share of climate impacts.
“This has been a sustainability project for Wallenstam and a learning journey to gain more experience on how to reuse a large building. Like every other industry, the construction industry must focus on sustainability and circularity. Wood material is in line with this goal, and whether we use wood alone or in combination with other materials, I believe reuse will play an increasingly important role in future construction projects,” he said.
The 2000-square-metre hall has won awards for its design. This reuse project has captured the attention of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, which is involved in Swedish research promoting sustainability and explores suitable ways of designing buildings that can be reused in other locations.
