Stjärnorp Castle Ruin

Two hours south of Stockholm rises the protected Heritage of Stjärnorp Castle. Tessin the Elder was the architect and the place embodies the 17th-century exchange of linking Sweden with the Central Europe. The conservation-project reconnects that history through a contemporary, transferable conservation strategy; minimal, legible and reversible interventions that secure the ruin without falsification. Grounded in Venice Charter principles and low-impact methods, executed with local timber and lime mortar, the work frames heritage as a driver of climat-aware and offers a model for many ruins.

The ruin was in a dangerous condition. The frontispice threatened to fall down and the walls had extensive damage from frost and salt weathering. The masonry was partly dissolved and had a large part of damaged plaster. The brickvaulted cellars had partially collapsed. Inside the ruin grew trees and bushes. The ruin could only be entered with danger to life. Maintaining a building that lacks a roof and floor structures is considerably difficult. The mission was to implement measures to reduce future maintenance. The exterior is preserved as an untouched ruin and shall be maintained on the terms of a ruin. But behind the walls, and placed on the same level as the original attic floor, a protective roof structure has been erected. The uneven wall crest has been protected with flexible leadsheeting. In the window holes individually cut glass has been installed, transparent shields that exclude water and wildlife while maintaining openess. Interior and exterior staircases have been added.

The roof structure consists of full-length beams, sawn on site from timber from nearby forests. The collapsed heartwall, which originally supported the joists, has been replaced with supportlines resting on four deeply founded steel pillars, clad in fireproof timber, without re-stressing the fragile Baroque masonry. Individually templated laminated glass are set into the vast window voids, fastened with specially made fittings. Access is provided through self-supporting stair elements of CorTen-steel that touch the ruin lightly and are fully reversible. New additions were built from durable, low-maintenance materials; estate grown timber, oakdoors, lime-based mortars from a nearby quarry, bricks from Denmark - handmade and flamefired of the same shape and color as the original brick. Long-term durability was a guiding principle of the Stjärnorp Castle Ruin project and a maintenanceplan has been established. The project was conceived as a long-term sustainable investment in heritage.