As our cities grow, so does the need to protect them from flooding, and to clean the dirty water they produce. The stormwater pond at Exercisfältet in Uppsala does both those jobs, while also contributing to biodiversity and creating a place where people can rest, socialize and exercise. We had the ambition to turn a necessary technical facility into a place for people and nature; the fact that the site is a sensitive cultural environment made the task even more complex.
The city of Uppsala is growing and becoming more dense around Exercisfältet, a former military training area which has cultural and historical values. The assignment to plan and design the stormwater pond began as part of a more broad project to assess the entire field and its potential for development. The generous open space will become increasingly important for recreation in a denser cityscape of the future.
The waterscape has two contrasting sides: a “city side” and a “nature side”. Facing Uppsala Science Park the pond has a sharp edge with a robust flood protection in the form of a concrete wall that follows the lines of the building blocks. Towards the open field, the pond connects to the undulating forms of the landscape. This way, the facility lands very discretely in the historically sensitive environment.
New buildings are currently being planned close to the pond’s straight side with it’s generous wooden deck. The pond is designed to accommodate this development and to become an exciting interface between dense block structure and open landscape space – a place where people are invited to experience city and nature at the same time.
To preserve as much space as possible for activity and recreation on the field, the permanent pond has been made as small as possible. This also minimises the length of the necessary safety railings, which saves material.
When it rains heavily, the water will rise beyond railings and walkway on the south side, and water mirrors of different sizes and shapes, according to the amount of rain, will appear on the field. So in this project, even the flooding has been designed intentively. This has a pedagogical value: it highlights the consequences of climate change and society’s need to adapt.
Water has obvious restorative qualities and is great for play, but also constitutes a risk, especially to children. We have created a space where people are protected from falling into the deep water and parents and teachers can feel safe about letting children explore the area. At the same time, the design allows visitors to come close to shallow water and vegetation via the curving pathway. This gives opportunities for children to play and interact with nature, and for schools to use the site for outdoor education in ecology and urban planning.
The pond, with it’s strong identity and recreative qualities, is appreciated by people of all age groups, and the latest ecological survey showed that it has increased the ecological value of the site.
Data
Landscape architecture: White arkitekter
Photo credits: Måns Berg
Other credits: WSP, storm water engineering and construction
