The Nordic Build Challenge was set up by the five Nordic Countries to prototype sustainable approaches to the legacy of post-war industrialised housing. Ellebo is a very typical 1960’s estate, with a set of problems familiar from across Europe. The project draws on the work of Lacaton & Vassal to achieve a radical environmental and social sustainability. The internal layouts are adjusted to give larger, double aspect flats, and the facades completely replaced, all without decanting the residents. This is possible through a surgical approach to the existing panel structure and by using new prefabricated façade techniques. The facades are given a new hierarchy – the outer elevations are highly insulated, simple and economical whilst those facing into the shared garden are given winter gardens and balconies. These deliver superb environmental performance in a simple robust way, but also give the residents a new seasonally flexible set of rooms. The balconies, vertically proportioned, articulated into bays and made of robust pre-cast concrete, form a dignified, elegant framework for the social life of the estate. This refocus towards the centre animates the shared spaces and fosters a strong sense of local identity. The new build elements of the project further help to give definition and coherence to this new garden room. An energetic process of resident engagement will transform the shared landscape from a barren municipal green to a lively and diverse set of gardens, by offering opportunities to unleash and cultivate the sense of ownership so often suppressed in public housing. The architecture acts as a robust but nuanced frame for a more plural and diverse community to develop, one that develops organically from the existing group of residents and that caters for contemporary desires for individual expression and autonomy.