Architecture · Residential · Sweden · 2022
84 Rental Apartments — Steninge Slottsby
Affordable housing is one of the hardest design briefs. The constraint is total. The standard has to be the same.
01 — The Brief
High-quality, affordable housing in a growing community
Steninge Slottsby is a growing residential area in Sigtuna, connected to both Stockholm and Uppsala. The project was 84 new rental apartments — affordable housing that would be somebody's home for years, possibly decades.
Affordable housing design often falls into a trap: treating the budget constraint as a reason to lower the standard. The brief rejected that assumption. The goal was high-quality, livable apartments that would hold up over time — physically and experientially.
02 — Design Priorities
Livability over the long term
Residential design at this scale requires thinking beyond the day of completion. How does the building age? How does it feel to come home to, in all seasons and all weather conditions? How does natural light enter the apartments in winter, when daylight is short and the quality of internal light matters enormously?
The natural surroundings of Steninge Slottsby — the landscape and proximity to water — were treated as a genuine asset in the design rather than just a marketing point. Orientations, window placements, and communal spaces were designed to connect residents to the environment around them.
03 — Closing the Architecture Chapter
From residential design to digital UX
This project was the last major architectural work before I moved into digital UX in 2022. Looking back, it captures something central about my approach to design in any medium: the person who will live inside what I'm building is always the starting point, not a consideration added at the end.
84 apartments means 84 households. People who needed a good home, in a good place, at a price they could afford. Getting that right required the same empathy and attention to lived experience that I brought to hospital design, urban planning, and now to every digital product I work on.
Affordable housing doesn't mean lower standards. It means higher creativity within tighter constraints.