En kort promenad eller cykeltur från Hölö ligger det nya folkets hus för Hölöborna och folket på den omgivande landsbygden. I hundratals år har platsen varit en mötesplats för invånarna i området. Den resta kyrkoruinen och det nya folkets hus förstärker varandra, platsen och skapar nya rum både inne och ute. I källaren i ena änden av det avlånga folkets hus ligger ett mejeri som hämtar sin mjölk ett stenkast bort. I Restaurangen ovanför kan man avnjuta dess produkter och andra hyperlokala råvaror. I den stora salen som sträcker sig genom nästan hela byggnaden finns fristående mindre rum som skapar en stor mängd, både öppna och stängda rum där man kan plugga, jobba, gå en matlagningskurs, hänga med kompisar, ha utställningar och annat som husets användare önskar. I andra änden av byggnaden finns en aula vars lutning naturligt följer landskapet. Här finns den enda biografen på flera mils avstånd och man kan hyra denna för större möten eller föreläsningar. Den del av huset som är över mark är helt i trä och byggnaden är designad för att vara hållbar, långsiktig och enkel att ändra så att den kan stå på platsen lika länge som den gamla kyrkan gjort. / A short walk or bike ride to the north west of Hölö lies the new community hall for the people of Hölö and its surroundings. For hundreds of years the place has been a gathering spot for those who live in the area. The raised church ruin and the new community building amplifies each other, enhances the place and creates new spaces both inside and outside. In the cellar at one end of the oblong building, milk from a nearby farm is processed, and in the restaurant you can enjoy its products and other hyperlocal produce. In the main hall of the building multiple rooms create different open and closed-off spaces for studying, working, cooking-classes, hanging out with friends, exhibitions and whatever its users need. At the other end of the building is an assembly hall that follows the natural slope. Here lies the only cinema of the nearby vicinity and it can be used for bigger meetings, talks and lectures. The over-earth part of the building is made completely of wood and the whole building is designed to be sustainable, lasting and easy to change so it can stand there as long as the church has.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the church ruin of the abandoned settlement of Övraby in Halmstad, Sweden. This is done from a modern church archaeological point of view based on Jes Wienbergs discussion on how to analyse a church as a part of a society rather than as an entity of its own. As an effect of this the thesis also discuss the settlement history of Övraby. The delimitation of the thesis is Övraby and its closest surroundings. Three issues are raised 1. Is there is a continuity of cult or place of cult from the pre-Christian era. 2. Of what type of character was the settlement? 3. How did the church architecture reflect societal change? The results in this thesis states that there are no concrete findings of cult places from the pre-Christian era which could be said to be connected to Övraby, though there are some aspects of the interior of the church building that might be considered as having been connected to a pre-Christian aristocratic cult. The thesis also states that Övraby was an aristocratic village which with time developed into a city, this aristocratic character of the early settlement is reflected both in profane buildings and on the architecture of the church. The development from village to town the thesis states, can be seen on the church architecture since the church lost many of its aristocratic features of architecture as the settlement developed.