Ulf Troedsson had long been planning to build a garage, or car showroom as he prefers to call it, and after seeing pictures of Carolina Rediviva's book hall in a newspaper report, he was inspired. Said and done, he set about clearing out the wood shed, casting a new concrete floor and insulating walls and ceilings, which were then clad with Masonite. Then it was time to choose the paint colour.
“The choice of colour for the ceiling naturally came down to antique white. To decide the colour of the walls, I parked two of my cars inside to see which colour highlighted the colour scale of their red paint best. The choice fell on a green shade, with the wall panel mouldings in gold,” says Ulf Troedsson about the choice of colour.
Connection to the University
Ulf has a historical connection to Uppsala University, as he lives on the farm where the University’s founder, Jacob Ulfsson, was born. In the park, there is a memorial stone that Ulf’s parents erected in 1977, commemorating the University’s 500th anniversary. However, Ulf had never been to Carolina Rediviva, so one day in the spring of 2022 the University Library had the pleasure of receiving him on a visit with a behind-the-scenes viewing and of course also a viewing of the book hall.
“What a fantastic hall, I’m floored! So beautiful and well done,” Ulf Troedsson exclaimed.
Ulf is a craftsman and works as a woodworking teacher at a secondary school in Enköping, and it took him about two years to complete the car showroom. The visit inspired new building plans, where a first step will be to repaint the checkered floor, which according to Ulf became a little too purple, since the original is more of a brownish-red colour.