Beauvais Site
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Client: Municipality of Copenhagen
Team: Stig L. Andersson, Thomas Kock, Malin Blomqvist, Lone Nielsen, Veronica Cheann
Collaborators: Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects
Design phase: 2005
Area: 1,5 ha.
At present the Beauvais site is a disused site in Copenhagen that due to soil contamination requires special treatment to become useable. Furthermore, as the site is affected by heavy traffic, SLA’s project also takes the noise from Lyngbyvej and Rovsingvej into consideration in the creation of new amenity spaces that can have a broad appeal: both for business, relaxation and physical activity.
Some of the mounds are planted with groups of trees and bushes, while others are left open with tall grass and wild flowers. In the summer there is shelter from the wind and noise from the roads and it is possible to enjoy the sun. In the winter you can take an experimental trip down one of the sides on a sledge or on skis.
The positioning of the mounds in relation to each other creates spaces that are interesting to pass through. Sometimes there are long views between the slopes, other times you are surprised by different and more intimate spaces. If you leave the paths and move up onto the mounds a completely different world unfolds itself. Over the calmly undulating hills, over the racing cars and neon signs, the eye comes to rest on the large, dark blue sky.
Parking on the site is fitted into smaller ‘pockets’ between the soft forms. In the afternoon, when the employees have left, the parking areas can be used as alternative, inviting activity surfaces. Here you can play roller-hockey, draw with colourful chalk or play ball with friends. Under the sculptural buildings you can likewise find parking for residents and guests in the neighbourhood.
To develop the Beauvais site into a recreational and spatially interesting area requires a reorganisation of the existing soil. With the help of bulldozers and diggers, the soil is pushed around the site to create mounds of different size that can act as sound barriers and block the noise pollution from the roads. The ground is then covered with between 30-50 cm clean topsoil to seal the contamination caused by the previous use of the site.
