Aktivitetsskoven Middelfart

GOAL no. 3, 10, 11, 13

Intelligent solutions for rainwater management are combined with settings for play and activity – all on the same budget. The project invited and incorporated input and local knowledge from the community.

The climate is changing, and the future is going to bring more rain and more extreme weather. This creates problems around the world, especially in low-lying coastal areas. To rise to this challenge, we need to develop new solutions capable of handling more extreme weather while also providing added value in the form of improved urban spaces, activity settings, meeting places and green growth.

The activity and climate management area the Aktivitetsskoven (the Activity Woods) is part of the town of Middelfart’s climate programme, KlimaByen Middelfart (Climate City Middelfart) – a visionary project that addresses the consequences of climate change by connecting life in public spaces, urban development and rainwater management.

Middelfart is built in a hilly coastal area, and in the project KlimaByen, climate adaptation is a visible potential and asset. The general plan for the area is based on three distinct types of urban settings, each addressed through site-specific rainwater solutions. The plan ranges from a large developmental scale to specific detailing of the individual urban spaces where blue and green solutions are linked with urban life, new activities and visible climate adaptation. One of the projects is Aktivitetsskoven, an urban activity and landscape park designed to activate all ages and open to everyone round the clock. Facilities for physical activity, a fitness area, running tracks and so forth combine with features designed to handle rainwater runoff. For example, some of the activities are situated on bridges over rainwater basins. In a community-building process, the project actively involved local citizens.

By creating visible added value for the local community, Aktivitetsskoven is a good example of tangible climate management that makes a positive contribution to local urban life.

Project details

Where: Stadionvej, 5500 Middelfart

Completed: 2018

Client: Middelfart Municipality, Middelfart Spildevand

Architects: LYTT and ADEPT

Thomas B. Thriges Gade – from street to city

Odense

GOAL no. 3, 11, 13, 17

For years, the four-lane street Thomas B. Thriges Gade split the city of Odense’s historical centre in two. Today, the area has been transformed into a dense, lively and green urban space that pulls the city back together.

From the mid-20th century, cities around the world began to build new infrastructure that benefited cars but created internal barriers, incompatible with current and future needs for more cohesive and sustainable cities.

This project is a transformation on a historical scale in Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city. The four-lane thoroughfare Thomas B. Thriges Gade was a noisy slash in the labyrinthine fabric of the medieval city centre. Through a comprehensive plan and focus on high architectural quality, this project has removed cars from the city centre and converted the former street area into a living, active, car-free neighbourhood that restores the heart of Odense.

The new district has mixed functions that are woven together into a coherent whole, including housing, a hotel, offices and shops, an underground car park, a new museum dedicated to world-famous author Hans Christian Andersen as well as Odeon, a cultural hub. The human scale, materials and variation of the new area provide a harmonious transition into the existing town, adding nine green, accessible squares and a park. Socially vulnerable citizens contributed to the project with their ideas and knowledge of the area. The project also includes new rainwater management solutions.

The neighbourhood is tied together by squares, a bicycle lane and a new electric tram system. With 26 stations, the tram makes it possible for locals and commuters to leave their cars outside the city centre, thus reducing congestion and air pollution. Together, the new neighbourhood and the tram system represent a qualified and modern way of restoring the mixed city and increasing urban density. The transformation exemplifies the importance of applying a holistic approach when implementing green transition.

Project details

Where: The streets Albani Torv, Fisketorvet, Torvegade, Bangs Boder, Hans Jensens Stræde, H.C. Andersen Haven, Carl Nielsens Kvarter, Odeons Kvarter, Vestergade, Overgade, Skomagerstræde and Adelgade, 5000 Odense C

Completed: 2022

Client: City of Odense in collaboration with the philanthropic association Realdania; the client for the tramrail system is Odense Letbane. Client for the Hans Christian Andersen´s House is Museum Odense. Architects and advisors: entasis (main) and Sweco (engineer and landscape)