The glasshouse in the courtyard

The glasshouse is a shared room for everyone who lives in Factory House: a place to meet, grow plants and spend time together across the stairways. Here you can read why it is there, how far it has come, and how you can help decide what it should be used for.

01Why is there a glasshouse?

At the last general meeting the owners' association gave permission to build a glasshouse in the courtyard, with a trial period of one year.

The windows for the glasshouse had stood in the back yard all last winter, and wind and water wear hard on them. So as not to lose them to another winter, the working group built the glasshouse this year, and the windows are now protected.

We have not been good enough at telling you what happened along the way. We are sorry about that, and it is one of the reasons for this page.

02How far have we come?

The current status is in the box at the top of the page.

Still to do:

• Painting
• Door and lock
• Sealing at top and bottom
• Gutters and drainage

03Finances

The glasshouse costs the owners' association nothing. The windows are reused from the building, the work is voluntary, and the working group pays for the materials itself. So far three members of the group have paid out of their own pockets:

When the building is finished, Kresten, who looks after the money, splits the amount between those who have said they would like to contribute. Any amount is welcome. If you want to join in and have not said so yet, tell Kresten (B, 1. tv.).

Whether you contribute money, labour or neither, everyone has the same access to the glasshouse. It was built for the whole association.

04May I use the glasshouse?

Yes. Until we have made permanent rules together, these provisional guidelines apply:

• The glasshouse is open to all residents
• No open fire, candles or smoking
• Quiet after 22:00
• No private, closed events for now
• Clean up after yourself and take your things with you
• Children must be with an adult as long as the glasshouse is unfinished

The glasshouse has no door or lock yet. If you see someone who does not belong in the building, contact the working group.

05The general meeting on 22 October

At the general meeting we vote on extending the trial period by one year. The building work is not finished and the municipality's answer is still outstanding, so we have not yet had a proper year to evaluate.

If the general meeting says yes, we spend the next year finishing the building and making rules for the glasshouse together with you. At the general meeting in 2027 we then vote on whether the glasshouse becomes permanent.

If the general meeting says no, the working group removes the glasshouse.

06The year ahead

1. 22 October 2026

   General meeting: vote on one more year

2. 3 November 2026

   Meeting with the municipality about the whole outdoor area

3. November 2026

   We collect your ideas, wishes and concerns

4. Sunday 22 November 2026, 15:30

   Residents' meeting 1 in the glasshouse: What should the glasshouse be?

5. January 2027

   Residents' meeting 2: We agree on the rules and draw up a yearly plan for the glasshouse

6. Spring–summer 2027

   The glasshouse is finished and used under the new rules

7. August–September 2027

   Evaluation among all residents

8. October 2027

   General meeting: Should the glasshouse become permanent?

07What we need to agree on together

We do not have the answers in advance. They are what we need to find together with you:

• How should the glasshouse be furnished – furniture, plants and lighting – and where should those things come from?
• When should the glasshouse be open, and should it be locked?
• Can it be booked for private events? How often, and should it cost anything?
• What about parties, music and alcohol?
• May children be there without adults once it is finished?
• Should the plants be shared, or can you have your own? Who waters them?
• May private things be kept there?
• May you bring guests, and may the glasshouse be used for courses and the like?
• What do we do if someone repeatedly breaks the rules?
• What does a year in the glasshouse look like? We draw up a yearly plan together: when to plant, who looks after it and when, shared events, and the annual evaluation.

08How the rules come about

We use a few simple principles from sociocracy, so that everyone is heard and no decision is set in stone:

• Consent rather than majority. A proposal is adopted when nobody has a decisive objection. If you have an objection, we use it to make the proposal better.
• Good enough for now. The rules do not have to be perfect. They have to be good enough to try.
• We look at them again every year. The rules are evaluated and can be changed once a year, and you can always bring proposals to the working group.

Everyone who lives in the building can take part, tenants included.

09How we evaluate

So that the vote in 2027 rests on experience and not only on impressions, we look at:

• How much the glasshouse is used, and by whom
• Whether there have been problems with noise, tidying or uninvited guests, and whether they were solved
• What the glasshouse has cost to finish and to run
• Whether the glasshouse is finished and approved by the municipality
• Whether we have rules that we agree on and keep
• What you think – we send a short questionnaire to every household

10Have your say

Do you have ideas, wishes, concerns or frustrations? We want to hear all of them.

• Fill in the form on this page
• Write to us – the contact details are at the bottom of the page
• Catch one of us in the courtyard

11The working group

The glasshouse is built and run by the glasshouse working group:

The working group is open to everyone. We would like more people to join, both to finish the building and to look after the glasshouse – and very much people who see it differently from us.

12Contact

Situation	What to do
Uninvited guests or noise	Contact the working group – the contact details are below
Questions	Ask the people who are in the glasshouse before you call us