Will build sub-district house to reverse a negative development
The commitment was great when the Vestli residents came together to hear more about the planned community center. The district and architect were on hand to tell more about what the assembly house should contain and how they should proceed.
In the evening sun on Vestli, several neighbors met to hear about the plans for the new community center on Vestli. BU manager Rashid Nawaz (Ap), project manager Benedicte Falch-Monsen from Bydel Stovner and Arild Eriksen from the architecture firm Fragment were on hand to talk about the plans for the house, but also to hear about input from the residents.
– We want to reach out to those who are most challenged. Those who live cramped and have poor finances, who may need such a collection house. At Vestli, we unfortunately see that development is going in the wrong direction. If we get any of the services in our central in the district, we might be able to turn it around, explains Falch-Monsen.
Temporary trial project
The collection house will initially remain on the plot in front of the Vestliberget kindergarten. The plot is owned by Coop, but has been loaned to the district until 2025. The district must make good use of that time.
– We don’t know what will work yet. Maybe it turns out that the assembly house doesn’t work, but we just have to try it out, says Nawaz.
Because the assembly house will only stand on the site for around three years, the architecture office Fragment has also had to think anew.
– The building will be like a building set, so that we can set it up, then take it down and put it back up somewhere else. We think circularly and sustainably, explains Eriksen.
FOLKSOMT: Many neighbors made the trip to the plot to hear. It is planned to use a little under half of the site for the building, and in addition a football pitch that can be added for the winter. Photo: Caroline Hammer
Neighbors want more information
For the time being, it has not been decided which services will enter the house. Falch-Monsen outlines offers various offers such as language café, family coordinator, training and job center satellite, but the details remain. Some of the audience reacted to that.
– How can we know if this is something we will like, when we don’t even know what offers will come? Unni Holmen, among others, comments.
The response from the district is that they want to have more meetings with schools, kindergartens and condominiums in the district, but also organizations and volunteers in the district to let them know if they want to participate.
LISTENING: The audience listens intently when Benedicte Falch-Monsen explains the district administration’s thinking. Photo: Caroline Hammer
Positive for the project
One of those who showed up who was far more positive about the collection house, is Mona Eckhof Sørmo. She has previously lived in Copenhagen, where townhouses in a similar form are found all over the city.
– I think it is incredibly positive. Having this type of gathering house gives a completely different aura to an area.
– It will be much nicer and nicer, and for those who have small networks, it is a fantastic way to get known. You can meet someone and start a conversation with them in a completely different way, praises Sørmo.
– I do not understand the negativity around this. In Copenhagen, it is a district center in all districts, with activities and food. It is the first link out into the neighborhood. For me, this is tip-top thumbs up, she says.
ARCHITECT: Arild Eriksen lives in Ammerud himself, and compares the use of the community center with the Ammerud activity center. – It gives a completely different life locally to have this type of meeting room. Photo: Caroline Hammer
What happens next?
The district’s politicians have not yet finally decided to establish the temporary building, but if it is approved by the district committee, construction will start on our side. According to Erksen at Fragment, the construction process will be short-lived.
– We have to dig a small ditch in the middle where the toilets will be, but that is the biggest part of the excavation. So this won’t take long to set up, because of the way it’s designed, he explains.
In that case, the building will remain standing until 2025 in the first instance. Coop, which owns the site, will decide at that time whether the district can continue to use the site during a transition if the community center has proven to be functioning well. For now, it is uncertain where a permanent building would be located. The neighbors suggest, among other things, the plot of land where Vestli school had a temporary location during the construction of the new school, but this is not current.
– Omsorgsbygg owns the land, and they want it available for the construction of care homes or nursing homes, for example, explains Inger Merete Wold, project manager for Area Improvement Vestli, which is handed over to many of the central plots of land in Vestli that are today privately owned. Among other things, this has led to the fact that it has been difficult to make major changes in the square.
– We can only set up temporary measures on the square since it is privately owned. This also applies to the site we are standing on today, says Wold.
Her plans the temporary Vestli district house.
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