”Physical and strategic devices are employed to create new and diverse urban environments where the water and the landscape can be used recreationally.”
Sandnes Harbor Promenade
Category
Location
Sandnes, Norway
Project leader
Hans Kragh
Type of contract
Parallel commission
Client
Sandnes Municipality
Collaboration
Holscher Nordberg, Urban Creators
Contract period
2018-2021
Landscape area
600.000 m2
Image Credits
KraghBerglund
Along with Holscher Nordberg and Urban Creators, Kragh&Berglund have conducted a feasibility study for the future development of downtown Sandnes. This Norwegian town is located in a unique scenic context with easy access to many regional workplaces, schools, cultural offerings, and within a short distance of the airport. These factors mean that Sandnes has lots of potential for development at a time when local urban areas are high up on the global agenda.
Downtown Sandnes currently consists of little enclaves surrounded by a large area of low-rise buildings, primarily housing. The large parking spaces and railway dominating the town make it difficult to ensure good infrastructure and equal opportunities. The feasibility study proposes developing Sandnes in a way that emphasizes the city’s existing stories and qualities as well as the nature surrounding it.
The idea is to use the changes in the city’s large surfaces to restructure it and revise its relationship to the landscape. Physical and strategic devices are employed to create new and diverse urban environments where the water and the landscape can be used recreationally. Reopening the brook “Storåen” restores the historical relationship between the landscape and the fjord. The attractive urban space “The Loop” displays downtown Sandnes’ many opportunities and forges a connection between the city, the waterfront, and the train station across the railroad.
This simple program offers a clear direction for the future the town. It provides a robust and flexible framework for tackling sustainable solutions and providing local residents, businesses, entrepreneurs etc. with an opportunity to realize their ideas. We envision a future Sandnes that will promote a modern, active and healthy day-to-day life like the one found in other big cities in Norway. Sandnes will become a “small metropolis by the fjord.”
Want to learn more?
Contact Hans Kragh
hkr@kragh-berglund.dk
+45 81 72 74 53
