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Volvo Photo Locations Part 313

Jetty – brygga

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Beach – badplatsen

The beach had a concrete wall that was poplar to sit on and protected the island from flooding during the wintertime when hard winds were blowing on the coast.

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Restaurant – reception

The restaurant and reception building used to be the first place where visitors went when the entered the island for their vacation. Here they would hear in which stuga (little holiday house) they would stay. A stay would be between one and three weeks.
The restaurant building was also the place where almost every body used to come for dinner or had to pick up food in a box. Most houses didn’t have kitchen facilities, so there was some kind of planning at what time holiday guests would be welcome for the evening meal. People also picked up the evening dinner in a box to eat it in their own stuga or summer house. The dinner room has huge panoramic windows on the seaside, which made it a popular place to eat.
From the early seventies, electricity was on the island and life became a bit more luxurious, people were able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the restaurant building

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Playground – lekplatsen

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Bridge to the island

Volvo Photo Locations has found many original material from the various Volvo publications that were made on the Trälen island. If you look at the island, there are several places that were popular for photography:

1. the jetty (brygga) near the beach
2. the beach with its famous concrete wall
3. the restaurant building which was also the reception house
4. the grass surfaced playground
5. some small holiday houses
6. the concrete stairway to on the hill

AB Volvo bought the island in the late 40’s and owned it until the 90’s. After Volvo had abandoned the island a period of decay started. Since a few years, after many years of inactivity, the island is alive again, with a new name, Lilla Fjellsholmen and is inhabited year round. New houses have been built. But many places and buildings are still remembering us to the places when it was a summer camp to many Volvo employees and their families.

During the summer of 2018, an article in the swedish Klassiker magazine and the cover on Volvo Klassiker magazine were the trigger to visit the island Trälen. By coincidence, I was just spending my summer vacation in the same area!

In 1948, AB Volvo purchased the island Trälen to offer their employees a place to have vacation. In those days, it was popular for large companies in Sweden to offer employees a place to stay during the vacation. Vacation was new after the second world war and for many workers they did not have any alternative or place to stay, once they had time off during the summer. Staying at their small houses in the city with their children was not easy.

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Volvo’s summer camp was a holiday island during a 40-year period, the idea was to offer a summer paradise for Volvo employees with their families. When the island became less popular, since cheap charter trips to the sunny south of Europe became popular, the island with the small houses were abandoned. Over time they were vandalized and the decay became a fact.

In the 1990s, a local developer bought the island and went through a detailed plan for new buildings.

Finally in 2012, the island was bought by Bansvik Holding AB, which has now started to build 63 year-round houses with sea view terraces and small guest houses. On the island there are also plans to built a large house with eleven apartments.

How did this all happened and what is the history of Trälen?

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In the 1940s, the island, which at that time was called Trälen, was bought by Volvo to be used as holiday accommodation for the employees. When the record year stood for the door, cottages, common room and restaurant were built on the island. For a few decades, this was a summer idyll for the Volvo employees and their families. Now it’s time to renew Lilla Fjellsholmen and fill the island with life again.

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In 2014, Kungälv’s Environmental and Building Committee has granted building permits for the display houses that will be ready for the summer 2015. The plan for Trälen includes a small society with 63 single-family homes, at least ten apartments, a common building, docks and sea sheds, and a kiosk.

“It’s a great opportunity to exploit an entire island, there is something unique on the west coast. We have put a lot of time and effort into creating something very nice with modern architecture adapted to the environment” says Göran Moser, who would rather name the island Lilla Fjellsholmen than Trälen as it was previously named.

He is one of six private individuals with a background in the construction industry who bought the island from the former owner. The detailed plan they inherited. It allows about 70 houses of 75 square meters in building area, with a living space of between 100 and 130 square. In addition, there is a complement building of 25 square meters.

Building permits are now being sought for holiday homes, but the buildings have the same standard as the year-round housing and fit both couples and a small family with children, Moser emphasizes.

Three architectural students at Chalmers got to know the plans for Trälen and the project was their thesis project this spring.

“It is a bit unique because it is about placing the buildings carefully in nature, without blowing up which one usually does when building small houses” says Gustav Johansson and says that the houses should instead be on poles.

“The whole was important to us. We have looked at everything from roads to the social and the location of the houses. It is such a good location so we wanted many of the houses to take part of it, that a house would not ruin for another” says Filip Karlén.

The students also wanted to get away from the established picture of how a coastal society should look.
After graduating, they have started the company Cream Architects together and worked on to realize the project together with Lilla Fjellsholmen AB.

The detailed plan for the island also allows ten smaller apartments. These will be designed by the architect Gert Wingårdh who has a personal connection to the site.

“We are now waiting for advance notice from the municipality. The way the house will look is not quite clear” says Göran Moser.

In autumn 2014, clearing works was underway on the island and during the spring 2015 the three show houses will be built. At the turn of the year 2015–2016, he hopes that the municipal sewage system will be in Åkerhög a few kilometers away from Trälen. In that case, the first inhabitants can move in during the spring of 2016.

This is Lilla Fjellsholmen

A mile south of Marstrand lies the island which, from the 1950s to the 80s, was a holiday village for Volvo workers. It was then called Trälen.
It then comprised 60 simple summer homes, community facilities and a restaurant.
The cottages have been hit by severe vandalism through the decades, but in 2006 there was still a TV show on the island. TV4 recorded the documentary Trälen på ön (Slaves on the island). People from different backgrounds would live together for 40 days. However, the series became an audience fiasco and got no continuation…
In the 90s, the island was sold by Volvo and bought by a local developer got through a detailed plan that allows new buildings on the island with minimal impact on nature.
At year-end 2011, Trälen was sold to the property development company Byggvesta from Nacka, near Stockholm.
The video for Håkan Hellström’s single ”Det kommer aldrig va över för mig” is partly recorded on the Trälen.
A few years ago, the island was sold to the current owners, six private individuals, several of whom are partners in the construction company Byggvesta.

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Trälen, which lies about 10 kilometers south of Marstrand, was purchased in 2012 by real estate company Bansvik Holding AB, owned by Lars Jonsson. In the same vein, work began to recapture the island’s real name – Lilla Fjellsholmen.
“We tore the old holiday cottages last year. They were completely overdue and vandalized after standing empty for many years. Then we began to work with our idea of ​​how we wanted to develop the island and announced an architectural competition” he says.

Several architects submitted proposals and the company fell for one from three architectural students. Their degree project has now taking shape on the former holiday island.

“They have started a company and are strongly involved in the construction project together with an architect professor” says Lars Jonsson.

“The idea is that the houses should be built in natural places with minimal impact on nature. There will be built 63 independent houses with associated guest house, seabed and boat site and house prices vary between SEK 5.4 and 8.9 million. Later, a house with apartments will also be built, designed by Wingårdh Arkitekter”.

“The houses are built as year-round homes, and we hope that as many as possible will be” says Lars Jonsson.

The island lies quite remote from all other facilities, the nearest grocery store is located in Kärna and there is a bus line. By car it takes 40 minutes to get to Göteborg. But the road is by bit narrow and crooked.

“We have no opportunities to influence the Swedish Transport Administration here, but our hope is that there soon will be a walking and cycling path next to the road. After all, it is not only we who build here so there will be more housing and more traffic” says Lars Jonsson.

He hopes that the walking and cycling track can be built in connection with digging for municipal water and sewage to the island.

“The houses must be on the ground floor and on some sites we need to fill out” Lars Jonsson continues.

The bridge leading out to the island was once paid for by Volvo. It should be retained but supplemented with walking and cycling paths. There are also walking paths on the island that need to be cleared.

Lars Jonsson, who is raised in Lysekil, is very happy that the building was started in early 2015.

“I have been living in the United States for 30 years, but I am still a Bohuslän in my heart and staying here for a month a year” he says.

The former owner got through a detailed process through the detailed plan, which meant that the beach protection was revoked. That is why Lars Jonsson and his company can now build houses on the shore close to the sea!

More information at GP.se: Exklusiva hus på forna Trälen (20 nov, 2015), GP.se: Nytt samhälle planeras på Trälen (24 nov, 2014), Vedhall group on Facebookand sv.wikipedia.org.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 347

Edvard Thomsens Vej is located in Ørestad South in Copenhagen.

The parking house in Ørestad, Copenhagen, won first prize in a competition in 2008. It’s located at the busy corner of Edvard Thomsensvej, where its facades enclose very different types of urban spaces and courtyards.

The architectural idea is that the building, with its light facades of a diffuse character, is well suited to the varied context it’s situated in with different kinds of developments and urban spaces surrounding it. A main idea is that the building in its entirety should not by itself signal ‘car park’, but that the signage on street level alone communicates the identity of the building to motorists.

The facades are designed in white translucent materials with “greening” towards the courtyard and residential block to convey the desired expression, and to help bring the large building in scale with the people living in the neighbourhood or just passing by.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and plh.dk.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 346

P-Hus Robert Jacobsensvej is located on Robert Jacobsens Vej in Ørestad South in Copenhagen.

Another step in the development of Ørestad Syd is taken. Now residents, employees and guests in the area receive their own state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly p-house with space for 690 cars.

One of the primary purposes of building parking facilities in Ørestad is that the cars must not fill the streets, so the city’s space can be used for anything other than rows of parking spaces. Ørestad Syd’s first p-house is constructed from high climate standards with an intelligent system that leads the driver to the nearest available parking space. It is located on Robert Jacobsens Vej 71, not far from Vestamager Metro Station and just between the Stævnen and the new Robert Jacobsen College.

The perforated facade of the house shows a motive of cars at a distance, but in addition to signaling the function of the house, the perforation also creates a natural vent, which means that the electrical ventilation must only be used for a few days a year. And despite the holes of the facade, it effectively protects the parked cars from wind and weather and keeps snow and rain out. The entire p-house is illuminated by LED light, which, besides being CO2-reducing, is especially safe because it reminds of daylight and does not leave any dark hooks.

Ørestad is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. When the area was planned it was expected that 20,000 people would live in Ørestad, 20,000 would study, and 80,000 people would be employed in the area. However, so far the area has failed to attract even half of those numbers. The area is being developed using the new town concept with the Copenhagen Metro as the primary public transport grid, connecting the area with the rest of Metropolitan Copenhagen.

Ørestad is noted for its attractive location and excellent infrastructure, which apart from the metro includes the Oresund Railway and Copenhagen Airport, as well as the nearby Øresund Bridge. The regional Oresundtrains reach Copenhagen Airport in six minutes, Copenhagen Central Station in seven, and 29 minutes to Central Station in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city. Ørestad has once been referred to as “the largest crossroad in Scandinavia”. However, Ørestad has also been criticized heavily for its modernist planning approach, focusing exclusively on real estate development and infrastructure connections. This has resulted in wide, open spaces that are void of any human life. The plans for the area have been remade several times to account for such mistakes, but so far without much success.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and https://christensenco.dk/.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 345

808 S Olive Street Parking is located on S Olive St and W 8th St in Los Angeles, USA.

Olive street is located in South Park, a commercial district in southwestern Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the location of the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Staples Center, and the “L.A. Live” entertainment complex.

“The District includes all property within a boundary that begins on the north at 9th Street and the 110 Freeway and runs east to Flower Street then south to Olympic Boulevard, east on Olympic Boulevard to mid-block across Hill Street then south to 11th Street then east to mid-block across Broadway forming the northern boundary. From there the eastern boundary runs south across 12th Street, past Pico Boulevard, past 14th Street, past 15th Street, across Venice Boulevard to the centerline of 17th Street. From there the southern boundary runs west along 17th Street/Santa Monica Freeway across Broadway, past Hill Street, past Olive Street, past Grand Avenue, past Hope Street, past Flower Street, across Figueroa Street to behind the Convention Center along Convention Center Drive. From there the western boundary runs north along L.A. Live Way (Cherry Street) across Pico Boulevard, past 12th Street, past Chick Hearn Court (11th Street) across Olympic Boulevard to 9th Street and the Harbor (110) Freeway.”

Bordering the district are Pico-Union on the west, West Adams on the southwest, South Los Angeles district on the southeast, the Warehouse District on the southeast, and the Financial District on the northeast. Major thoroughfares include Venice, Pico and Olympic Boulevards, Grand Avenue, and Figueroa Street. The Blue Line light rail line and Expo Line light rail line stop in the district at the Pico/Chick Hearn station.

At the beginning of 21st century the area began to rapidly transform with infill development. Luxury apartments and condominiums with ground floor retail began construction in the 2000s. The district’s proximity to the University of Southern California, as well as the Blue Line light rail line, have made it an attractive area for young professionals. As with many neighborhood transformations, this change in demographics has a few concerned about displacement and gentrification issues.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and www.parkme.com.

Great photography for Volvo Car USA by Marlyne and Patrick Curtet! (www.behance.net and curtet.com)

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 344

The Sutter-Stockton Garage is located on the Stockton St and Bush St in Downtown San Francisco, USA.
The exact location is the exit lane of the parking towards Bush Street.

This exit lane is just above the south portal of the Stockton Street Tunnel, a tunnel in San Francisco, California, and carries its namesake street underneath a section of Nob Hill near Chinatown for about three blocks. The south portal is located just shy of Bush Street, which is about two blocks to the north of Union Square. The north portal is located just to the south of the Sacramento Street intersection.

The tunnel was built to decrease the grade through the hill. Before the tunnel was built, the maximum grade along the route of Stockton north from its intersection with Sutter was 18% and the maximum grade south from the intersection with Sacramento was 12%. The tunnel was built with a maximum grade of 4.29% between Sacramento and Sutter. Initial plans in 1909 called for a tunnel 430 m long. The planned tunnel was shortened in 1910 to 230 m, with a width of 17 m and a height of 25 feet (7.6 m), with stairways connecting the tunnel with Pine and California streets.[4] The bore was narrowed slightly in 1912, with a total planned width of 42 feet (13 m) and a height of 18 feet (5.5 m).[8]

Construction involved lowering Stockton Street near where it passes into the tunnel from the South, evidence for which can still be seen at the building of 417 Stockton Street (Mystic Hotel), where the basement became the ground floor and the former front door is now a visibly marked window bay on the second floor.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and www.sfmta.com.

Thanks to Changyoung Jeong for finding this location!

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 343

Tartine Manufactory is located on the corner of on Alabama St and 18th St in the Mission District in San Francisco, USA.

The Tartine Manufactory is an idea that grew out of Tartine Bakery and its ever-evolving philosophy on flavor, craft and human health. They hope the platform of collaboration allows many friends, thought leaders, chefs and farmers to challenge the industry, create beautiful food and improve the livelihoods of every link in the chain.

Tartine Manufactory has picked the right time to start serving dinner, at a time when San Franciscans need nourishment in both body and soul. The talented team, which includes general manager Charles Chen and bar manager Ashley Miller, have been ramping up for the evening service since opening in August. Now, after a series of ticketed dinners to allow the team to get their ducks in a row with service, dinner has launched to the general public, starting tonight.

Chef Sam Goinsalvos has created a menu that starts with co-founder Chad Robertson’s bread of course, including spreads like cultured butter with koji salt, and sea urchin and mustard smørrebrød (basically a Scandinavian tartine). Rustic and umami flavors flow throughout the menu, which starts with “Welcomes” like chicken and pork bone broth, and lamb ribs with yogurt and dukkah. “Grains and Vegetables” are a particularly strong point for this kitchen, offering veggie dishes prepared with care like roasted baby carrots, with Castelventrano olive-herb salsa. The main section, “Land and Sea,” focuses on shareable dishes like a ribeye with black garlic-green walnut steak sauce that serves 2-3, alongside individual items like a short rib pastrami sandwich.

Desserts are from co-founder Liz Prueitt, who has created plated dishes like a pavlova with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, tangerine, and passionfruit. There are also plenty of opportunities to try her ice cream treats, including a huckleberry float with lemon verbena soda, and ice cream pie for the table.

More information at sf.eater.com and www.tartinebakery.com.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 342

Highway 99, also known as the Fraser Delta Thruway south of Vancouver, and the Sea to Sky Highway, the Squamish Highway, or Whistler Highway north of Vancouver, is the major north–south artery running through the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia from the U.S. border, up Howe Sound through the Sea to Sky Country to Lillooet, and connecting to Highway 97 just north of Cache Creek. The number of this highway is derived from the old U.S. Route 99, with which the highway originally connected. The highway currently connects with Interstate 5 at the international border.

The total length of Highway 99 from the U.S. border to the Highway 97 junction is 409 kilometres. In 2006 the UK’s The Guardian newspaper listed the Sea to Sky as the fifth best road trip worldwide.

The “Sea to Sky Highway” is the name given to the section of Highway 99 from Horseshoe Bay to Pemberton. From Horseshoe Bay, the highway travels along the coast of Howe Sound. It continues for 12 kilometers to Lions Bay, north for another 21 kilometers, crossing into the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District en route to Britannia Beach, and north for 11 kilometers to Squamish, at the head of Howe Sound. From Squamish, it continues north for another 58 kilometers to Whistler, and then to Pemberton 32 kilometers later, where the Sea-to-Sky Highway ends and Duffey Lake Road begins. After going for almost 100 winding kilometers in very steep mountains where sometimes the speed limit is 30 km/h, (99 km) northeast, Highway 99 reaches the junction with Highway 12 at Lillooet, and then goes northeast for another 75 kilometers to its northern terminus at its junction with Highway 97, just north of Cache Creek and just south of Clinton. The speed limit of the Sea-to-Sky Highway ranges from 80 to 100 kilometers per hour with 60 kilometers per hour sections in Lions Bay, Britannia Beach and parts of Squamish.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and www.ourbc.com.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 341

This location is at the corner of Adelaide Street West and Bay Street in Toronto, Canada. It is in the Financial District of Toronto.

The Financial District is a business district in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York (later the St. Lawrence Ward). It is the main financial district in Toronto and is considered the heart of Canada’s finance industry. It is bounded roughly by Queen Street West to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Front Street to the south, and University Avenue to the west, though many office towers in the downtown core are being constructed outside this area, which will extend the general boundaries. Examples of this trend are the Telus Harbour and RBC Centre.

It is the most densely built-up area of Toronto, home to banking companies, corporate headquarters, high-powered legal and accounting firms, insurance companies and stockbrokers. In turn, the presence of so many decision-makers has brought advertising agencies and marketing companies. The banks have built large office towers, much of whose space is leased to these companies.

The bank towers, and much else in Toronto’s core, are connected by a system of underground walkways, known as PATH, which is lined with retail establishments making the area one of Toronto’s most important shopping districts. The vast majority of these stores are only open during weekdays during the business day when the financial district is populated. During the evenings and weekends, the walkways remain open but the area is almost deserted and most of the stores are closed.

It is estimated 100,000 commuters enter and leave the financial district each working day. Transport links are centered on Union Station at the south end of the financial district, which is the hub of the GO Transit system that provides commuter rail and bus links to Toronto’s suburbs.

The building on the left is The Bay Adelaide Centre, an office complex in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first phase, a 51-storey skyscraper known as Bay Adelaide West, was completed in July 2009. The second phase, the 44-storey Bay Adelaide East, was completed in October 2016. A third tower, Bay Adelaide North, is planned.

More information at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_District,_Toronto and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Adelaide_Centre.

Big thanks to Chao, for finding this place in Toronto!

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 340

The Agora Theater is located on the Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Canada.

The Agora Theatre is an awarded project for the revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square. The project was selected for the Toronto Urban Design Awards- Award of Excellence in 2007.

Nathan Phillips Square has always acted as an agora, the ancient Athenian place of public and political exchange, but also claims the dual functions of theatre, the place of focused gathering, and square. AGORA/THEATRE – the competition-winning project for the Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization competition in 2007 – clearly defines the interior space of theatre and square – a theatre for the city – where planned and unforeseen events are encouraged, against a vast forested perimeter of intimate programmed green rooms.

Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square was designed by the City Hall’s architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong. It opened in 1965. The square is the site of concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers’ market, the winter festival of lights, and other public events, including demonstrations. During the winter months, the reflecting pool is converted into an ice rink for ice skating. The square attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors yearly. With an area of 4.85 hectares, it is Canada’s largest city square.

More information at en.wikipedia.org and www.branchplant.com.

International Volvo Photo Locations Part 339

Designer Fabrics was located at the corner of Brock Ave and Queens Street West in Ontario, Canada.

In August 2018, the famous store closed down.

From ordinary folk to the film and theatre industries, Designer Fabrics has become a household name for selling fabric, trim and hardware. The store at the corner of Queen St. W. and Brock Ave. supplied material to the Stratford and Shaw festivals. Renowned interior designers such as Sarah Richardson and Brian Gluckstein have shopped there.

Even costume designers for the Murdoch Mysteries television show and, most recently, the Oscar-winning movie The Shape Of Water have sourced items there.

“I love it, I will miss it; I had a good time with people, I made a buck, I did my best in this community while I was capable and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

But Fainer says he knows it’s time for him and his wife, Beverly, to retire. The couple recently bought and moved into a condo near Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave., but Fainer says it will be hard to adjust.

“I don’t know how to live in another place after so many years here in Parkdale,” he says.

He didn’t want to sell the business as is, and none of their three children wanted to take over and run it. So much the better, according to Fainer.

“I would be freaking out. I wouldn’t want anything to be messed up within my business,” he says.

Sitting in his office on the upper level of the store on Friday — decorated with pictures of grandkids, and framed messages and awards from various organizations — the self-made businessman reflected on the journey that brought Designer Fabrics to what it is today.

As a young immigrant from Poland, who arrived in Canada in the early 1950s, Fainer says he worked odd jobs like mopping floors of restaurants and offices across the city.

When he had enough capital, he opened a small rental storefront. Later he bought it and bought a property next to it, then the next one, and now his store has grown into almost an entire block covering more than 30,000 square feet.

Over the years he has travelled to India, Belgium, Italy, Germany, China and many other places, developing contacts with fabrics suppliers and retailing their wares to the Canadian market.

You get a sense of Designer Fabrics’ influence and its community outreach simply by looking at plaques, certificates and congratulatory messages adorning shelves in Fainer’s office.

More information at www.aseanbreakingnews.com and www.thestar.com.