Gallerdurk created unique park: “Exciting and beautiful with a material that is usually only associated with industry”
Updated: 7 november 2024, 12:26Published: 4 november 2024, 13:33
Different, beautiful, sustainable and verdant.
But designing the park was a challenge, due to a series of complicated conditions.
The solution was something unusual in a design context: namely grid colander – an industrial grid made of steel.
– It feels good that we have been able to create a unique place from a material that most people only associate with function, says landscape architect Tove Nilsson.
EXTERNAL LINK: Inspired by more thoughtful environments from Häfla Bruk
Above the Motala stream in central Norrköping, a different kind of park has emerged, with a focus on greenery, safety, accessibility and sustainability. In addition, they wanted the park – which has been built in levels above the water – to be aesthetically pleasing with an industrial feel and fit in with the other architecture in the Kroken quarter.
The site is located above a power plant outlet on the border between the older inner city and Norrköping’s historic industrial landscape.
– It is a complicated place to build on, says Tove Nilsson, landscape architect at Ramboll.
Part of the order was that Holmen, which owns the hydroelectric plant that empties under the park, must be able to access its plant if something unforeseen were to occur.
– Therefore, the park had to be partially demountable. We came to the conclusion that we should use a construction of a lattice colander, which is a solution that enables parts of the park to be taken down like a puzzle and then assembled there again.
Solution-oriented collaboration
It was through NCC that Ramboll received the assignment, and Häfla Bruk, a company that has been around for over 300 years and has a solid knowledge of steel, sheet metal and metal constructions, was chosen as the supplier of the grating.
Landscape architect Tove Nilsson describes how the work with the park developed in a close and valuable collaboration with Häfla Bruk.
– It has been unique for us to work so closely with the supplier of the material and the final product. It was very good precisely because we could draw a place that was really buildable. Häfla Bruk has been very solution-oriented and clear about what possibilities there are with their products.
Using wire mesh for floors, stairs, railings and more in the park provided many benefits.
– Firstly, it is a durable material that lasts a long time. It is robust and will probably not require much maintenance, says Tove Nilsson.
– It also turned out very well as we could have plantings under the living and walking areas, down on the solid ground and maximize the greenery by allowing shrubs, perennials, trees and climbing plants to grow under and up through the cavities in the lattice screen and climb along walls and railings . So we didn’t have to choose between either having a hard surface to walk on or having greenery, but here we could have both living and walking space and greenery in layers upon layers.
Tove Nilsson is a landscape architect at Ramboll.
Easy to care for with wire rack
A further advantage of the mesh colander is that it minimizes maintenance needs during the winter.
– The snow falls down through the grate instead of settling on top of a whole, flat surface. Since the park is very small in terms of surface, and built up in different levels, it was difficult to adapt the park so that maintenance vehicles could get down into the park.
Above all, standard solutions from Häfla Bruk have been used.
– It is only in certain places that special adaptations have been made. But above all, they are standard dimensions, which among other things has made it more cost-effective.
Exciting, lush and beautiful
Tove Nilsson believes that mesh colander will become an increasingly common material to be used in a similar way in the future.
– The cities are getting more and more dense and will mean that we will sometimes have to build in more and more complex places.
– It feels good to show that we have been able to create an exciting, lush, beautiful and pleasant environment with this material. A place that will last for a long time.
EXTERNAL LINK: What can we help you with? Contact Häfla Bruk here!
Häfla Bruk
Häfla Bruks AB has existed as a company for over 300 years and has manufactured, among other things, steel stairs since the mid-1950s. Is today a leading supplier of forging, sheet metal and metal products.
The assortment includes, among other things, expanded metal, grating, stairs, railings, ramps and services in laser cutting and sheet metal processing.
Located in Rejmyre in Östergötland.
The article is produced by Brand Studio in collaboration with Häfla Bruk and not an article by Dagens industri
