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A bird's eye view of the Helsingborg town hall and the renovation work going on its tower, Source: Helsingborg Municipality
The building has been undergoing a major renovation since the start of 2021
The City of Helsingborg, which is set to host the much-awaited H22 City Expo (30 May- 3 July) announced that visitors won’t be able to enjoy the façade of the local town hall due to ongoing renovations. This, however, was also a chance to showcase some Nordic pragmatism with the announcement that the scaffolding will be covered with a weather-resistant 35-metre long banner advertising the Expo.
The town hall, or Rådhuset in Swedish, is considered to be one of the most impressive ones in the country. Inaugurated in 1897 and built in the neo-Gothic style, it features a 65-metre high bell tower and resembles a medieval castle. The tower has been undergoing a major renovation since the beginning of 2021. Its copper roof and bad bricks have been replaced.
The authorities admitted that the renovation was meant to be completed at the end of last year, however, this was not possible.
“Unfortunately, the tower had much major damage and was in worse condition than we first expected. The masonry work, which can only be carried out when it is more than 5 plus degrees, has therefore been delayed and will not have time to be completed before the H22 City Expo starts. The last remaining work will take place from July to September,” says Carina Persson, project manager at the City of Helsingborg.
The officials then had to think about what to do with the scaffolding that envelops the tower. Ms Persson explained that rather than tearing it down and rebuilding it after the end of the fair, which would have been very costly, the City opted for aesthetics. So, they dressed the scaffolding with a long banner containing motifs from H22 City Expo.
The banner has 990 square metres of surface and is also storm-proof. It is held by 2,000 straps to the scaffolding. These straps are designed to withstand wind speeds of 20 km/h. Stronger winds will break them, which in turn would let the banner fly away. The alternative, however, would be to have them become sails that would take the whole scaffolding down if the straps were more resistant.
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