Cobe and Yellon win Stockholm's historic gasworks residential tower competition

A pair of Scandinavian firms have been selected as winners of an international competition to design a new residential tower on the site of the newly remade gasworks district in Stockholm, Sweden.

Denmark-based architects Cobe and Swedish firm Yellon are behind the forthcoming ‘Stadsljus’ (or City Light) project, which forms part of a larger master plan adjacent to the city’s Royal Seaport from Herzog & de Meuron. 

The 360-foot-tall tower will contain a total of 300 apartment units and quotes the historic cylindrical brick gasometers that were operated at the site until 2004. The new residential building is to be constructed in place of the demolished Gasholder 4 and will contain a restaurant and pre-school at its ground-level base, topped by a modular, three-dimensional metallic facade designed to create a dynamic interplay of natural light on its angled surfaces.

Culminating with a tribute to the surrounding designs of Ferdinand Boberg, the faceted crown of the tower features a pitched roof and pronounced overhang that supports a solar array and conceals the building’s MEPs. The cylindrical makeup of the volume is useful in maximizing interior living arrangements that offer residents panoramic views of the city and are, in some instances, accompanied by one or more terraces. Twenty percent of the units are on a co-ownership model, giving residents the chance to call the Stadsljus site their permanent home.

Architects Dan Stubbergaard (Cobe) and Fredric Scherman (Yellon) say: “With its combination of three cylinders, ‘Stadsljus’ is as an interpretation of the historical gasometers from the site. The residential tower not only reflects the essence of its time and purpose but, standing alongside its historic counterparts, forms a harmonious family of gasholders that will grace the Stockholm skyline while enriching its local surroundings.”

The CEO of the project's client OBOS, Daniel Kjørberg Siraj, added: “The winning team has succeeded in combining contemporary residences and high architectural quality with a strong connection to the culturally and historically valuable site that is the gasworks area. With residences in various sizes and price ranges, ‘Stadsljus’ will become a home for people in all phases of life, and that is how we, as a member organization, want to build homes.”

Construction is expected to start in 2026, with full occupancy to follow in 2029.