Midgård in Köping is one of the later Domus department stores designed by the Kooperativa Förbundet Architectural Office, where the architecture of the 1960s remains embedded in the materials. The facade of Ekeberg marble, the granite plinth and the copper detailing on the upper floor together form an unusually well preserved whole, something the municipality has also identified as part of Köping’s modern cultural heritage. At the same time, renovations carried out over recent decades have gradually obscured the original design and moved the building further away from its architectural idea.

Our heritage pre study clearly demonstrates the values the building carries and what has been lost. This forms the starting point of the project: a firm conviction that this building not only can but should reclaim its architecture. There is a responsibility here, both professional and cultural historical, to reveal and restore rather than to replace.

Externally, this means that the original architectural principle is once again taken seriously. The marble is restored, the copper elements are reinstated and the consistency of the window composition is brought forward. Internally, however, a clear renewal is undertaken. Logistics, systems and layouts are updated to meet contemporary requirements, with flexible retail spaces, improved operational conditions and residential units on the upper floor. Preservation where the building itself carries the values, renewal where function and the present day demand it.

Midgård thereby regains the opportunity to function as a central node in Köping, not as a nostalgic gesture but as an architectural reclaiming. A department store that once shaped city life can continue to do so, now with an updated internal structure and an exterior that once again reflects its own time.