Urbana Villor is a seven-home residential project in Västra hamnen, Malmö, completed in 2008. Its developer is Brf UrbanaVillor, the residents’ housing association. The project was initiated in 2003 by architect Cord Siegel and a group of friends seeking to create their own homes; the group selected the housing-association model for developing the project. 111
The scheme combines apartment living with features associated with individual houses. Each apartment occupies a full floor and can be entered directly from the lift, or via an external spiral staircase and a garden balcony on the courtyard side. The ground floor is open and provides generous bicycle storage, while a communal greenhouse is located in the courtyard. 1
The project’s principal architects were Cord Siegel and Pontus Åqvist. Ulrika Connheim was a junior architect; Karin Larsson was senior landscape architect, with Ola Nielsen, Niels De Bruin and Magnus Svensson also listed as junior landscape architects. 1 The development comprises two buildings: a street-facing block and a courtyard building, with five apartments in the former and two townhouse units in the latter. 89
Urbana Villor received the Kasper Salin Prize in 2009. The award jury highlighted its community-oriented approach, sustainability ambitions, garden balconies and bicycle provision. 1 The project was also a finalist for Architects Sweden’s Residential Award in 2009. 1