Issy Spence’s Lövholmen waterfront thesis is a waterfront urban design project about public access, common ownership and who gets to benefit from urban renewal.
The project challenges the idea that a waterfront should automatically become a luxury commodity. Instead, it asks how Lövholmen in Stockholm could become a place for different people, uses and qualities of space at the same time.
Project focus
Issy completed her Architecture Master’s at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and the thesis reflects a wider interest in socially and environmentally responsible design.
The proposal uses the urban renewal of Lövholmen as a test bed. It pushes back against short-term developer financial interest and argues for a longer-term view of the waterfront as shared civic space.
Design ideas to notice
- The waterfront is treated as common ground rather than private backdrop.
- The thesis connects ownership, access and design quality instead of separating them.
- The public argument is spatial: more than one thing should be able to happen at once.
- The project gives social responsibility a specific site, not just a general statement.
Portfolio lesson from this project
A social-value thesis needs to show both position and proof. The reader should understand what the project stands for, then see how that stance changes routes, thresholds, ownership and everyday use.
Connect with the designer
Use these links to see Issy Spence’s professional profile and browse more project work on Architecture Social.
Showcase a public-space project
If your project is about public access, ownership or civic space, make the public argument visible in the drawings.
- Show who the space is for.
- Explain what changes from private or restricted use.
- Make access, thresholds and everyday activities clear.
Next step
Explore more project work in the Architecture Social Projects directory, or submit your own project for the showcase.
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