With a greater focus on soil protection in the EU, in combination with the ever-growing pressures of redevelopment of contaminated and former brownfield sites, the need for ecological risk assessment tools for cost-effective characterization of site contamination is increasing. One of the greatest challenges in assessing the actual risk of soil contaminants is to accurately account for the reduced or increased mobility of contaminants over time, as a result of bioavailability. Improved tools for measuring the bioavailable and mobile fraction of the contaminants, as opposed to total concentrations, is therefore highly desirable. In this study the triad method was used to perform a risk characterization of a former surface treatment and metal industry, now used for the student union buildings of the Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. The risk assessment with the TRIAD method confirmed the environmental risk of sample D and showed that the toxicity of the sample was most likely caused by the high metal concentrations in the soil. The risk assessment of sample B and C was more complex, as there was a higher deviation between the results from the chemical analyses, ecotoxicological bioassays and the ecological inventory for these two samples. Further ecotoxicological bioassays are therefore suggested, in order to accurately determine the risk and potential remediation requirements of these soils.