THE FIRST CLIMATE DISTRICT

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The climate district in Østerbro shows the climate adaption of the future and the development of the existing city. In 2013 the project was selected by Sustainia100 as a visionary and innovative solution for the future climate friendly city. Tredje Natur wants to be a part of a developing bridge community which sets apart from the rest of the city. We believe that through cultivating the local resources we can create a strong coherent district, which in a few years can display the first climate- and urban space solutions as inspiration for the rest of the world.

Project information
Responsible partners: Flemming Rafn Thomsen and Ole Schrøder
Design team: Monica Galiana, Anna Sissela Michalsdottir, Joan Melgaard Rasmussen, Lotte Randeris Kristensen, Louise Fiil Hansen and Hans H. Bærholm
Location: Skt. Kjelds District. Outter Østerbro in Copenhagen
Cliet: Copenhagen municipality at Center for Park and Nature, Area renewal Skt. Kjelds District, Copenhagen Patios, Copenhagens energu and Environment Østerbro.
Area: 105 Ha
Project period: 2011-16
Prizes: Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, 2016

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The greatest challenge of all lies in the existing city. The objective is to upgrade the city in relation to the citizen’s expectations in terms of what the city can provide in sustainability, sociability, and in regards to health. The idea is that having a coherent and natural design will create the most sturdy strategy. This will be the key to a holistic district, as well as sensibility for individual spaces, areas and for the people. – Partner in Trejde Natur, Ole Schrøder

COMBINING THE CITY AND NATURE
What we request of the city are events – both social and commercial. There are several urban activities, interesting residential areas, convenience stores, daycare centers, etc. In addition, there are several urban open spaces, places to meet, places for recreational activities, and places where you can just sit and enjoy the sun and the life around the city. On the other hand the nature represents the opposite. We seek nature for peace, for contrast and nature’s presence, along with the recreational aspect and the irregularity.

How do we combine city and nature in a third coherent state? How can we create an understatement for the natural phenomenon and resources by having a city with climate adaption? How can we experience the lights of the city without lampposts and lamps? How can we hear nature’s sounds amongst the noise of the traffic?

In St. Kjelds district all these questions are catalysors for the thoughts and the design of Bryggervangen, St. Kjelds square, Tåsinge square and the courtyards. We aim to create a unique performative city-nature which increases the city’s value and the recreational and extrasensory possibilities.

BRYGGERVANGEN | The Green Spring
Bryggervangen is a central street in the districts climate resilience. Tredje Natur calls the course The Green Spring, taking Kildervældsparken into consideration along with the water gushing into the street. St. Kjelds district makes up a catchment peaking south of St. Kjelds Square and is an ideal water drainage solution. By optimizing the parking lots placement and the width of the street, room is created for water drainage, nature and new bicycle paths. Countless unutilised spaces have the potential to create a handfull of urban areas, not taking St. Kjelds Square and Tåsinge Square into account.

In Denmark it rains 121 days a year. A typical drainage channel is conventionally dry 95% of the time. Therefore the channel has to be able to take advantage of the frequency of the downfall and increase the longevity of it in the positive urban space. The thought is to keep the water longer in urban spaces for recreational activities, along with other urban purposes for when the spring has dried out. The water can be used in form of artificial puddles, flow through Wadi’s, or be stored for dry periods. When the area has dried out, it can be used for bypassing or a place for a temporary stay.

Sct. Kjelds square | Dead-ice
In this area 7 streets merge in a 8.000 m2 delimited urban space. The square is the physical midpoint and should in the future pose as the natural meeting and gathering place of the district. Considering the central location and size, it has potential as a showcase and to display the climatic district, both nationally and internationally. The area is inspired by the dead-ice landscape, which occurs naturally several places around Denmark. During the ice age, the ice was withheld underground in pockets which slowly melted and left characteristic recess in the surface of the earth. Here there is an atypical variation in the terrain compared to the normal pancake flat Denmark.

The circle is the most important architectural, historical and monumental element which accentuates the areas central spot in the district. Today the circle is merely a roundabout, but will in the future be remolded to a collecting and spectacular element that has the characteristics of an artificial natural phenomenon. The circle will be lifted 5 meters above the terrain and have fog nozzles which will recycle the collected rainwater. The function of the circle will be in use when the microclimate for example is above a set drought gradient, or extreme temperature. Metaphorically, a perfect circle withholds a powerful, conspicuous value that makes up the cultural reciprocal action with the terrain’s natural features.

The varying terrain invites for a walk in the sun and cultural events in the amphi-esque channel. On the edge of the Square, there is an area made for outdoor dining along the ground floor level which can be arranged into café’s, restaurants or shops. On the Square there can be, for example, forged a café, as well as a staffed playground along with a communal house with indoor facilities. The essence is animating the surface of the square by creating nooks for sojourn, forming a wall against the vehicular traffic and establishing an inner area where city life can unfold on a small or larger scale. The bunds appeal to playing on and for exercising. This area is formed by a mixture of tiles, stairs that can be climbed on, as well as for sitting, and vegetation forming rooms.

By the Square’s missing facade by Meny supermarket, southwest of the square, a latticework will be established, which will add green urban spaces provided by the residential gardens and climbing plants. The idea is to create an accessible vertical kitchen garden and a meeting place for the residents. This will also finish off the spacial area towards the Square. The ground where the residential gardens are placed, is highly polluted and therefore the area is risen to prevent damage. On the terrain the polluted area can be exploited as parking spaces which can free up other areas for recreative activities.

TÅSINGE SQUARE | The Brink
Tåsinge square is a 6.000 m² spacial delineated urban space. The centralised bunker is today covered by luxuriant oasis that appears as a wild growing hill. Surrounding the bunker is a large number of diagonally parked cars and wide roads.

Storing the rainwater is a part of Copenhagen’s climate adaption strategy.The water falling from the sky is clear and does not contain calcium like our potable water. Today a large amount of the rainwater goes directly into the sewer. This does not only take up a lot of resources, but the sewer system also overloads due to the enormous amount of rainwater coursed by climate changes. The idea is to store the water using the clean downfall from the rooftops. The downspouts are connected to the gutter’s which can, by use of gravity, be pumped up into silo’s as tall as the buildings all around the district.

By optimizing the southern road- and parking area, an urban space is created which can conjoin with the judicious floor plan in Henning Hansen’s apartment block, Solgården. This will be the base of the stores and sector. 80 % of the times we meet up with other people, it is in the outskirts of the city. The Brink is thought of as an urban edge between architecture and nature where our everyday lives interlace the two. The large trees and bushes will be kept, and form a green back wall for ballgames, play and meeting points. The edge of the bunkers green terrain will be optimized, prolonged and molded into an active zone focusing on motion, city sports and play. The Brink is south facing and being a bit away from the apartment block’s roof profile, has good lighting throughout the day.

LANDSKRONA INTERSECTION
Today the area is mostly known for its thoroughly marked asphalt areas and there is great potential in thinking of this 4.300 m² urban delimited area as a conjoined surface for development. In the southeastern corner a café can be established and in the northwestern area there is sun throughout the most of the day.

In the Northeastern corner the channel parts and provides a good opportunity for water games as well as functioning as a green urban space. In the nook southeast of the potential café a water silo can be placed in front of the closed off facade. Along the southwestern edge there is shadow throughout most of the day and therefore this location will be most ideal for the necessary parking spots.

The projects in the climate district shows that it is possible to create a technical solution to draining the rainwater which leads the water into the harbours instead of our basements. At the same time we can incorporate all the features which makes an area aesthetically desirable, implement green streets and form urban spaces. It is architecture that combines the technical and aesthetics in a new and exciting way – Tina Saaby, municipal architect in Copenhagen Municipality

APARTMENT BLOCKS
Energy Renewal is a separate and thorough project, which concerns the entire existing residential area. The idea is that a larger intervention can exploit the rainwater and vegetation innovatively to a coherent energy renewal plan, using green and blue facades. At the same time the collected rainwater can be used for household purposes and be a local as well as sustainable solution which can help solve the climate challenges in other parts of the city.

The Copenhagen apartment blocks anno 2015 accommodates and contributes to the districts ambitions concerning the green and blue. In the future this can be highlighted as the today’s visionary example as a well succeeded adaption to the surroundings.

Well on it’s way towards a third nature. The winning proposal is like a meteor strike in the functionally divided city

Boris Brorman Jensen in The Architect

It is captivatingly futuristic and, alongside the other comparatively simple schemes, speculates just how advanced we could be if we hadn’t neglected our urban waterways for so long.

Financial Times on HOW

A jury member described it as ‘academic hippie platitudes – plenty of feel-good, but completely unnecessarily high readability index’.
The most original is in the solutions presented. Not least what a jury member call ‘the Big Rainwater Penis’.

Creative Business Cup jury

The winning project of the Europan competition presents a visionary proposal for how we draw nature back into the city and utilize the qualities that it can give to the cityscape.

City Architect of Copenhagen, Tina Saaby

THE FIRST CLIMATE DISTRICT

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