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The groundbreaking for a major Stockholm development project has taken place simultaneously on site and in a virtual replica within the Minecraft gaming world.
AMF Fastigheter partnered with Microsoft to launch the construction for Urban Escape Stockholm regeneration through a gaming collaboration with Minecraft and a group of schoolchildren.
The ten-year-olds who marked the groundbreaking ceremony, using virtual TNT to ‘flatten’ a part of the city centre district in the Minecraft world. This took place as contractors began construction workon the real site nearby.
The students from Loviselund School in Hässelby, Stockholm, were then challenged to design and rebuild their own unique interpretation of the Urban Escape Stockholm neighbourhood in Minecraft – built by online gaming community Team ProPain.
Karolin Forsling, chief development officer at AMF Fastigheter said: “We believe in collaboration in the creative process, and as developers of urban spaces we want to engage with Stockholm’s ‘future talents’, the people who will live, work and play in this city. By partnering with Minecraft, we are giving young people a chance to shape one of Europe’s fastest growing cities and we’re inspired by how they have challenged convention and sparked new ideas.”
AMF Fastigheter said that it will be taking inspiration from the students’ designs in the final delivery of elements such as the hotel and the Urban Escape Rooftops – Stockholm’s first public garden spacebuilt in the skies, connecting three buildings at roof-level.
Urban Escape Stockholm is in the heart of the Swedish capital and will have 130,000m2 of mixed-use space anchored by two hotels and connected at sky-level by rooftop gardens (link opens in new tab).
The scheme will comprise five buildings, four streets and two squares – including a shopping centre, two hotels, office and retail space, restaurants and an innovation centre. It is set for completion in 2019.