Last weekend I was out biking and as I was heading home I took a shortcut through one of the more shady industrial areas in Gothenburg, I stumbled upon an abandoned warehouse. I thought this would be a great target for some serious exploration. Since it was getting late and I didn't have my camera with me, I decided to continue my way home and return some other day. To my surprise I noticed that the next building along the road was also abandoned and the next... and the next... The whole block was a ghost town, and the next one as well. I've stumbled upon the motherload of urban exploration!
A quick background check at home gave the reason for all the empty buildings. The whole area is going to be cleared to give way for a new connection between the two highways that today shapes the boundaries of the industrial area. So I needed to hurry up since it woudn't be long until all this was demolished.
The next day I hurried home after work and grabbed my camera and headed back.
This is an overview from the south. Originally, the area was filled with small companies, warehouses and workshops but it seems like the only ones left at the end were middle eastern wholesalers (halal meat etc.) which seems to thrive in areas like this.
Oh, this sign says "Welcome urban explorers" in Swedish...
The streets were all dead, only strewn with heaps of junk.
It seemed like somebody still lived in this house, so I didn't check it out any closer
In the side of that house were two old fuel pumps.
It's been almost 20 years since Q8-petroleum replaced Gulf.
The demolition had already begun in the northern end of the area.
All open areas had been used for dumping any stuff left over when moving out and a sour, rancid smell hung in the air. Let's have a look at those pallets over there shall we.
EEEEEWWWWW! Rotten pineapples
A smashed pallet with lemon juice bottles
Some bottles were still intact and only slightly overdue...
Some weird Asian energy drink.
Forklift trucks left behind before the roof caved in
Most of the buildings were boarded up quite well, with no way in. This one looked promising but not without a crowbar.
This building had already got its asbestos facade stripped. (note the hole on the upper floor)
More junk.
Inside. (At this point, the battery in my camera was getting low :sigh: and the flash stopped working from time to time. This reduced the number of interior shots)
This is the hole from the inside.
The excavators had eaten away the inner parts
Somebody had a coffee break.
Suddenly, I heard VOICES from the other side of that wall and I decided it was time to move over to another building.
Next building was boarded up, but somebody placed a scaffolding for me to climb.
Apparently they were removing the asbestos tiles and this gave me a way in.
The stairway down looked familiar and I had a feeling I had been here before.
Yep, 15 years ago I bought used parts for my first car here.
Unlike the other buildings, this place was totally cleaned out and not much to see.
Back on the attic somebody had busted through the wall to the place next-door.
(picture taken without flash, adjusted in Photoshop)
A hatch down from the attic
If I climbed down, I would risk not getting out again, so turned and headed back down to the street.
Somebody had busted open the front door to the next building and this looked promising.
Two office floors with small rooms like this one. Broken glass everywhere. Judging by old newspapers lying around, the place had been abandoned since 1996.
The voices I heard before was back and now I could see two guys loading stuff into a car next door. Apparently, they were the last ones moving out and hopefully they were minding their own business.
A quick check up the stairs to the attic.
:wth: The attic was full of pigeons (and pigeon shit) and they scared the hell out of me, flying around. One lazy fuck stayed behind just to get his photo taken.
Workshop on the back
Some guy named Patrik is apparently considered gay (Bög = Gay)
Some shitty mural
Heading back to the light
Finally, I stumbled on something that made me smile. My first full-time job was at a company that made vending machines. There is a good chance that this particular machine was built by my own hands :v:
Summary
Here is an Arial photo where I have plotted my way through the area. There is much left to explore.
Unfortunately, the place is demolished .
