Filborna water towers in Helsingborg receive Sweden's heaviest architectural award, the Kasper Salin Prize, which is awarded by Swedish architects.

- It is very classic in its construction and it is reminiscent of both a Roman aqueduct and all the buildings that have been given so much power, even though they only had technical functions, says the prize's jury chairman Torun Hammar.

Delicious since 2020

But the tower is leaking water and the inauguration, which was planned for September 2020, has still not taken place.

The leak is created by small, tiny holes in a kind of inner plastic film that is designed to make the concrete last longer.

In June 2021, the tower leaked as much as 4,000 liters of water per day and the hard-to-find holes have employed several subcontractors.

Now the tower leaks much less, about three liters per hour, according to Jonas Malmgren, project manager at NSVA, Northwest Skåne's water and sewage.

- The water tower has two separate tanks.

We have managed to close the leak in one but not in the other.

Now we are working on how to deal with that leak, we are testing different methods.

We are quite tired of this, but since we have got the first thought in order, we should be able to get the second one in order as well, he says.

Wants the building to be "whole and clean"

Jonas Håkansson, head of the drinking water department at NSVA, is still positive and believes that the tower can be taken into use soon.

- Our hope is that it will happen as soon as possible, he says.

Torun Hammar says that the prize jury has been aware of the leak of the tower, but believes that as soon as the fault has been rectified, it will be able to stand and function for many years.

- Somehow you have to think: Is it possible to fix?

Yes.

Does it have to do with architecture?

No.

We have of course talked about it, you want the building to be "whole and clean" on an occasion like this, but it is a construction error and does not in itself affect the architecture.

Filborna water tower was designed by Wingårdh's architectural office and commissioned by Nordvästra Skåne's water and sewage.