Cerulean tiles shimmering under the Stockholm sun. That’s the first thing you notice about ABF-huset. It stands out on Sveavägen with its distinctive blue facade. Most buildings here have plastered facades. But ABF-huset chose a different path.
ABF-huset is more than just a pretty building though. It is a house for the Arbetarnas Bildningsförbund. This translates to the Workers’ Educational Association. The ABF still uses the building today. ABF-huset was designed by architect Helge Zimdal. It was inaugurated in 1961. However, the architectural competition was already won in 1940 by the architects Nils Ahrbom and Helge Zimdal with their design for a “study home”. But only Zimdal completed the project.
Inside ABF-huset, you will find a complicated structure. There are shops and restaurants on the ground floor. Large auditoriums occupy the first floor. ABF Stockholm’s offices are on the second floor. Birkagården Folk High School is on the third floor. And ABF Komvux Stockholm is on the fourth floor.
Study activities take place here daily. These include study circles, courses and lectures. The many small study rooms and large halls are named after key figures of the labor movement.
The area around ABF-huset has many institutions linked to the labor movement. Across Sveavägen lies the Social Democrats’ party headquarters. A few blocks away near Norra Bantorget are the headquarters for several trade unions. These include LO and several of its member unions such as Metall. In the neighboring block is Adolf Fredrik’s Cemetery. Hjalmar Branting and Olof Palme are buried here. Next door is the Grand Cinema. Palme spent his last hours there before his assassination.
From 1962 to 1967, the restaurant Gyllene Cirkeln was located in the building. It was a meeting place for jazz lovers. Famous artists like Pink Floyd and Monica Zetterlund performed there. Gyllene Cirkeln was owned by KF.
In 2023, a sculpture of Kata Dalström was unveiled and inaugurated in ABF-huset.
ABF-huset stands as a testament to learning. It is a place of debate and a center for the Swedish labor movement. Its blue facade is a landmark. It is a symbol of knowledge and progress on Sveavägen.