Lillhagens växthus Dokumentation och åtgärdsförslag

Abstract

The aim of this study is to document and make proposals for action to Lillhagen greenhouse facility, with consideration to its historic and cultural characteristics. Based on literature and archival studies, the essay reports the historical facts concerning the greenhouse as a building type and furthermore Lillhagen hospital and the greenhouse facility. The facility was originally a part of the former psychiatric hospital Lillhagen, which is located close-by the greenhouses, in Skogome in the municipality of Gothenburg. Then, its purpose was to provide the hospital with vegetables and plants but also served as part of the occupational therapy practised at the hospital, keeping the inmates at work in the greenhouses and the park surrounding the hospital area. Nowadays, it is run as a market garden, by a co-operative called Multikult. A description of the greenhouses and the buildings connected to it is presented, along with a valuation of the cultural and historic aspects the facility holds. Prior to the proposals, studies were made of two other greenhouses which recently have been restored/renovated, in order to gain knowledge of what might be suitable suggestions for the greenhouses of Lillhagen. The proposals, the first one having a conservationist’s perspective, are based on the valuation made earlier. The second one is a compromise between the ideas of proper conservation and those of Multikult and their needs for an everyday usage of the space and their financial situation. This essay also makes note of and discusses the fact that there has been a constant reduction of a lot of the small scale market gardens, with greenhouses that hold cultural and historical values, in the region of Västra Götaland, and hence there are not many left today. However, this is probably not just a regional phenomenon, but nationwide. This study has only kept a regional focus, though. There is no data on how many of this kind of greenhouse facilities that exists today, since no inspection or survey has been carried out. Overall, the focus concerning greenhouses within the conservation of built heritage in Sweden has often been that of orangeries and houses of the upperclass settings.