Construction has started at New Slussen, a major Foster + Partners project in the center of Stockholm. One of the largest urban projects in Sweden, the SEK 12 Billion project is intended to “create a dynamic urban quarter, responding to its historic context and transforming the city centre,” according to the press release.

Slussen was originally built in 1642 as a lock separating the ocean from the freshwater Lake Mälaren before being covered by a concrete “four-leaf clover” structure in 1935. The deterioration of the concrete structure made a new master plan an urgent necessity.

The Foster + Partners plan includes new transportation links as well as new commercial buildings and cultural amenities. The plan is intended to maintain the historic scale of the area, while adding new public spaces as well as pedestrian and bicycle routes. It also will expand the capacity of the lock five-fold to minimize the threat of flooding.

“This is a once in a life time undertaking in a uniquely significant and spectacular setting,” states Spencer de Grey, the Head of Design at Foster + Partners. “We are honoured and very proud to be a part of this incredible and visionary project.”

For more work by Foster + Partners, check out some past coverage:

• Apple's spaceship campus, by the numbers (including an estimated $5b price tag)
• Norman Foster’s First Brooklyn Project Revealed, A 7.7-Acre Red Hook Office Development
• What does a $1 million dollar staircase look like?
• Norman Foster's secret garden: a tour of Foster + Partners' Maggie's Center