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Forgotten Fragments of the Future

A brief history of Euroc City, Scanstad & Scandinavia World

Almost a decade before the eventual closure of the Limestone Quarry in Limhamn in 1994, spectacular plans and visions of its post-industrial future were already being sketched out. 'Burning a hole in one's pocket', is an english saying which is used to describe the intense desire to spend money as soon as it is obtained, as if it is literally too hot to hold onto. In the case of the quarry, it seems it was the hole itself that was doing the burning, warming the corporate pockets of its owner Euroc (formerly Cementa, later Scancem and now Heidleberg) who were eager to find new ways to extract value out of the ageing mining operation.

In 1987 the well renowned local architect, Sten Samuelson, was commissioned by Euroc to produce an early conceptual sketch of what would later be called 'Euroc City' - A development proposal for a city of 15000 people, described by Sydsvenskan as "Sun drenched terrace houses, offices, hotels and sports arenas climbing down in steps toward a sparkling lake". The proposal also included a 30 story hotel built on an artificial island in the Öresund and the arena built in the base of the quarry had a capacity of 100 000 spectators. A decision regarding the construction of a fixed link between Sweden and Denmark still hadn't been made, but through this visionary proposal Euroc hoped to put some momentum into the debate and hopefully persuade the major political decision makers into making a concrete commitment to the project.

Model of Euroc City // Samark Architects (Sten Samuelson)

Sten Samuelson had previously been commissioned by the company, designing their lavish new corporate headquarters overlooking the quarry less than 10 years earlier in 1978. The building, known as 'Euroc House' was understated but refined - A low sprawling complex built around a series of atriums and courtyards, more akin to a romanesque monastery than the headquarters of a multinational company. The then sitting CEO of Euroc, Sten Lindh pointed out that the relocation of the company's headquarters, from Central Malmö to the edge of the quarry in Limhamn was a way for the organisation to reconnect with its past and prepare for the future. The opening of the bridge was still more than 20 years away, but Lindh was prescient enough to realise that it was not a question of if, but when. The company owned approximately 300 Ha of land, stretching from the site of the quarry all the way to the sea, including much of the land reserved for the future transport corridor leading up to the proposed bridge over the Öresund. The record years of the million programme were now over and the oil crisis' of the 1970's were causing uncertainty in the construction industry.Lindh understood that the company would soon be sitting on a gold mine in Limhamn, only it would no longer be the raw material underground that would be of value, but the actual ground itself.

In June 1991 the governments of Sweden and Denmark sign a formal agreement committing to the Öresunds bridge project, with construction set to commence in 1994. The decision immediately leads to speculation on how much Euroc's landholdings in Limhamn could be worth. The company bought the land in the 1870's for less than 10 million SEK, but with the future arrival of the bridge the land is estimated to be worth up to 3 billion SEK. The company re-presents its plans for Euroc City in a brochure in an attempt to make some progress on its immense plans and persuade the municipal politicians of its merits. A preliminary agreement is reached between Euroc and the municipality in December 1992 giving the company the right to develop at least 200 000 square metres, consisting of residential space, office space, education and research facilities as well as a theme park. Sten Samuelson, through his architectural office Samark are assigned the task of developing their earlier vision into a feasible plan.

Image of Scandinavia Land // Malmö municipality, 2008

Limestone quarrying in Limhamn ceases early in 1994, ending almost 130 years of industrial limestone mining at the site, and bringing an end to cement production in the area. Limestone extraction and cement production is concentrated to the companies' operations at Slite on the island of Gotland. Later in 1994 'Temaparken Utvecklings AB' is formed as a jointly owned company between Euroc and Malmö municipality for the purpose of investigating the potential of establishing a theme park near the Öresund bridge abatement, ideally in the vacated pit of the quarry. Disneyland soon declines involvement in the project, but a former Disneyland executive is hired to help Temaparken develop the project further and find investors. The group of theme park experts hired to develop the project are captivated by the program for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and propose a scandinavian themed fairy world, with trolls, vikings and gnomes.

The Social democratic party are elected into government in October 1994, both at the national and local level, and have different ideas regarding urban development priorities than their predecessors. The theme park development slowly fades into the background as the new government turns its focus to revitalising the run down harbour area close to the city centre. Large urban renewal plans are proposed, including the development of a 'knowledge city' close to the central station, and a new residential neighbourhood, with a landmark tower (Calatrava's Turning Torso) on the site of the western harbour. In 1996 Euroc changed its name to Scancem after merging with Norwegian cement producer Aker, and presented a reworked development proposal under the new name of 'Scanstad'. The plans were drawn up by Peter Broberg through his architectural practice Landskronagruppen, and generally followed the proposal set out by Sten Samuelson but with a slightly toned down program, with more emphasis on residential neighbourhoods and leisure activities rather than education, business, research and entertainment which was accentuated in the previous scheme. The lake was maintained at the centre of the development along with terraced housing climbing down the slopes of the former quarry, with the major visible change being the florentine inspired building/bridge running North - South across the lake, with a pedestrian path running on the top of a long continuous apartment building below.

So what ever happened to Euroc city, Scanstad and Scandinavia land? The Scandinavian theme park idea is still floating around in the back rooms of city hall, surfacing again every now and then,just waiting for the right investor (or any investor) to come in and pump money into it. It has since been moved from its previously proposed location in the quarry to a site just to the south of Hyllie station. Euroc city and Scanstad have simply faded away into the shadowy archive of unrealised plans. Scancem was acquired by German multinational Heidelberg group in 1999 and it's likely the new owners didn't have the same patience and energy to carry out an urban planning development on this scale. They lacked the long lasting connection to the site that Euroc had that comes from 130 years of operation, and probably didn't feel the urge to create an urban monument carrying their name. As time went by and nature started reclaiming the quarry site, more and more rare and endangered species started to appear, making the original plans difficult to implement. The land was just a couple of numbers on a spreadsheet to Heidelberg, and it was easier just to divide the land and sell it to developers and leave the planing up to them and the municipality. In 2010 the crater of the quarry was 'donated' to the municipality to be designated as a nature reserve after an agreement was reached, which also gave Heidelberg further development rights on land it owned surrounding the quarry.