Case study - Visby Summer Squares

Transforming two parking-dominated squares into places for people — to meet, play, linger, watch and perform.

Team
Studio Doms + Tengbom

Client
Region Gotland

Sector
Urban development

Year
2026

Visby Summer Squares — located in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Visby — explored how two parking-dominated squares could become places for people to meet, interact, play, observe and perform. Studio Doms and Tengbom developed the project in close collaboration with Region Gotland, using citizen dialogue, inclusive design and reuse to create vibrant public spaces within a short timeframe and limited budget.

Most of the Main square was a parking lot before the transformation, April 2026.

People relaxing and engaging in conversation at the Main square after the transformation. August 2026.

Mainly cars occupying the South square before the transformation, April 2026.

Local residents enjoying breakfast. South square after the transformation, June 2026.

Added value - A more people-centred city

From parking space to public space

Visby’s historic squares are some of the city’s most important public spaces, yet large parts of them are dominated by parking. Visby Summer Squares explored what could happen when some of that space was temporarily given back to people — creating room to meet, play, linger, people-watch and perform.

The process began by listening. Through citizen dialogue, existing qualities and conflicting needs were identified: people valued the social life, cafés, markets and historic setting, while many called for less space for cars and more greenery, seating, culture and opportunities to stay. Rather than searching for a single answer, these different perspectives became part of the design brief.

Studio Doms and Tengbom worked closely with Region Gotland across municipal departments, bringing design, landscape architecture, production and local knowledge into one fast-moving process. Inclusivity became both an ambition for the spaces and a way of making them. Students from a local special education school and participants from daily activity centres took part in the process, extending the project beyond the conventional design team.

With a tight timeframe and limited budget, existing resources became an important starting point. Instead of purchasing new planters, 24 existing urns and six large tree planters were restored and given a second life, partly through the involvement of the special education school. Reuse reduced costs and unnecessary consumption while turning production itself into an opportunity for participation.

The two squares were developed as distinct places rather than identical interventions, responding to their different conditions while sharing a common design language. Furniture, planting, colour and spatial elements introduced new possibilities for staying and interacting within the historic city. Temporary by nature, the project became a full-scale experiment in how small interventions, existing resources and broad collaboration can change the way public space is inhabited.

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

A deep dive into the design process - Designing for many!

Design brief

Transform two parking-dominated squares into places for people — to meet, interact and play.

Two squares. High inclusivity. A fast process. A limited budget.

Visby Summer Squares explored how temporary design, collaboration and local participation could rapidly change the role of two central public spaces in Visby.

Rather than approaching the project as a finished design to be implemented, the squares were developed through a collaborative process involving designers, municipal departments, schools, daily activity centres and the people who would eventually use them.

The project brought together Studio Doms, Tengbom and Region Gotland, combining design, landscape architecture, municipal knowledge, production and local engagement.

Inclusivity was treated as a fundamental design parameter rather than an accessibility layer added at the end.

The project considered different ages, abilities and ways of using public space — from active play and social interaction to simply finding a comfortable place to sit and observe.

Working together with local school students and daily activity participants also brought perspectives into the project that are rarely represented in conventional urban design processes.

Inclusive design was both an ambition for the spaces and a method for creating them

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

A city as workshop - Make use of local assets

A limited budget and compressed schedule required another way of working.

Instead of specifying an entirely new collection of urban furniture for external production, the project made use of the knowledge, materials and production capacity already available within the municipality.

Design decisions were continuously negotiated against what could actually be produced, transported, planted, installed and maintained.

This created a short distance between idea and reality.

Design. Discuss. Adjust. Build. Test.

The process became almost as important as the objects it produced.

Selecting locally sourced oak logs for balancing play

Collecting locally sourced oak logs for balancing play

Selecting locally sourced limestones as stoppers and stepping stones

Preparing locally sourced birch for creating beautiful furniture-like objects for sitting, climbing and balancing

Birch logs ready for assembling to furniture.

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

Instead of buying new, we started with what the municipality already had.

24 existing urns and six large tree planters were restored and given a new life as part of the summer squares. The refurbishment was carried out together with school students from a local special school.

The approach reduced the need for new products, kept the project within a limited budget and made better use of resources already available within the municipality.

Reuse became more than a sustainability strategy. It became a way of combining resources, participation and making.

24 urns restored
6 big planters given a second life
0 new planters purchased

Old planters found behind the municipality's green house. Possible to reuse?

Old planters ready to repair, clean and paint

The refurbishment dream team from a local special school class!

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

From design to everyday operation

Turning the design into two functioning public spaces required close coordination between design, production and municipal operations.

Furniture and objects had to be built, transported and installed, while trees and plants were prepared and placed across the squares. The temporary nature of the project meant working directly with existing conditions and adjusting details on site as the spaces took shape.

But the work did not end when the squares opened. Watering, cleaning, waste management and everyday maintenance became part of keeping the places inviting throughout the summer.

Bringing the people responsible for building and managing the spaces into the process helped bridge the gap between design intent and everyday reality — from the first installation to the daily care of a living public space.

Flags created at one of the local daily care centers

Wind socks manufactured at one of the local daily care centers

Building trellises for flower support in the municipality's carpentry

Building beach boxes at the South square

Adding oak logs for sitting and balancing

Watering is the single most important maintenance-activity and in this case waste water from the water cleaning plant is used

The stage on the Main square takes shape

One of a hundred conversations from curious people during the establishment period.

People filling the stage after just a few minutes

Maintenance after a few weeks of use - Linseed oil soap treatment.

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

Two squares, two characters

The interventions were not conceived as identical installations.

Each square responded to its existing character, flows and social conditions while sharing a common design language.

Furniture, planting and spatial elements created smaller situations within the larger urban spaces — places for conversation, play, rest and spontaneous encounters.

Together they formed a temporary layer within the historic city rather than attempting to compete with it.

First family on site at the transformed South square

People on picnic tables at the South square

Time for world cup game at the South Square park

People using the oak logs as seating during game time

The beach box came in handy for gathering people watching the game

The beach chairs at the South square park became very popular during world cup game nights

Extra seating for visitors to the adjacent restaurant

The Main square is very popular during sunny days, now with more free seating

Picnic tables for rest and sharing a meal

The Main square was full during game day, no furniture nor plants visible to the naked eye

The Design Process - Visby Summer Squares

The result

Visby Summer Squares demonstrates how relatively small physical interventions can produce significant changes in how public space is perceived and used.

But the project also points towards another possibility.

When municipal departments, designers and local communities work directly together, the design process itself can become a form of capacity building — leaving behind not only new places, but new relationships, knowledge and ways of working.

The project transformed two squares for a summer. The larger experiment was how a city can transform itself.