Stimulating meeting places in Lindholmen

Lindholmen is a district where academia, industry and society are converging to create a sustainable future. By investing heavily in growth areas and the built environment, Chalmers University of Technology and the City of Gothenburg aim to provide a wider choice of meeting places and thus create a better environment for innovation. On Thursday 4 March the foundation slab will be laid for the spectacular new Kuggen (“Gearwheel”) building designed by Gert Wingårdh.

- The integration of education, research and innovation are vital driving forces as the knowledge clusters of the future take shape, and the university has a core role in this process. The environment in Lindholmen is exceptionally well suited to this development process. Kuggen will play a valuable part in creating the open and dynamic environments that are essential for stimulating collaboration and creativity in all its forms, says Karin Markides, President of Chalmers University of Technology.

Together with Anneli Hulthén, Chairman of Gothenburg Municipality, and Hasse Johansson, Chairman of the Board of Lindholmen Science Park, Karin will host a lunch seminar on Thursday March 4 on the value of cross-fertilising knowledge and visions for the knowledge cluster that is growing in Lindholmen Science Park. Afterwards they will jointly pour the foundation slab for Kuggen.

One of the key questions faced in turning Lindholmen into environment that will attract promising companies to establish innovative businesses here is how to get all the stakeholders to interact and enrich each other’s work. The site chosen for Kuggen will make this building a natural link between the activities that take place in the buildings around it, and hence a vital jigsaw piece in the development of the area.

-The ground floor of Kuggen will be designed and filled with activities that will make it an attractive and natural meeting place. On the first floor of Kuggen and the surrounding buildings there will be dynamic, open spaces intended to stimulate new activities and ways of working together, says Karin Markides.

Kuggen also provides an excellent opportunity for the university to apply sophisticated sustainable technology solutions in its own infrastructure. Among other things, the building will have interactive systems for heating and cooling, and triangular windows that reduce the window area but still allow light to penetrate deep into rooms. The shape of Kuggen itself, with upper floors that are larger than the lower floors, also contributes to the building’s environmental performance. This feature means that the building shades itself and helps to create a good indoor climate very efficiently.

The building has already attracted international attention and has been certified under the EU’s GreenBuilding programme. Tenants will move into the building in stages in summer 2011.


Time: Thursday 4 March 11.00–13.00
• Seminar including lunch, starts at 11.00. The seminar is fully booked, but there are still some press places.
• Pouring of the foundation slab, 12.30 – open to everyone. Location: construction site.

Place: Ground floor atrium, Lindholmspiren 5.