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Søndervold Nature Park

The green heart of Kanalbyen

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Tine Langsted Krogstrup

Project Director, Associate Partner, Architect MAA, MDL

+45 30117505

tlk@sla.dk

Location

Fredericia, Denmark

Size

10.200m2

Client

Kanalbyen

Role

Lead Landscape architect

Partners & Collaborators

Rambøll, HedeDanmark

Challenges

Typology

Services

Søndervold Nature Park is the natural green heart of the new Kanalbyen neighborhood and a result of 12 years of meticulous interdisciplinary work. Initially, we created an open temporary landscape comprised of few but select trees, inviting the citizens to, once again, use the southern harbourfront of Fredericia, thus reintroducing the area into the inhabitants’ minds. We later used and incorporated some of the spontaneous citizen-driven initiatives that emerged in this initial period. We replanted some of the trees and kept some of the various community-driven initiatives, such as community gardens, as a central element of the finished Søndervold Nature Park.

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The park contains 3200 trees, carefully chosen after our biologist’s thorough research into the unique characteristics of the landscapes surrounding Fredericia. We recreated several distinctive local biotopes, such as coastal pasture and salt-tolerant forests, inspired by the area’s existing natural qualities. We even collected seeds from these nearby habitats, thus supporting the specific local composition of species.

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“With Søndervold Nature Park, we are wrapping up a process that began when we kick-started Kanalbyen twelve years ago with a large and wild temporary landscape. Along the way, we have used nature to clean up soil pollution, create local ownership, and initiate a strong nature-based urban development – a development we take with us, among other things, by planting the 'temporary' trees in the finished park and making sure they continue to give joy and benefit the city”

— Stig L. Andersson, founder and partner of SLA.

Søndervold Nature Park is designed as a natural green wedge connecting the surrounding nature with the city. As well as to bring life to a once desolate part of Fredericia, once again connecting the city with the sea. The entire Søndervold Nature Park is also raised by 1m, turning it into a protection against storm surges and floods while increasing the recreational and natural value of the area tremendously.

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Our nature-based design laid the foundation for a landscape with nesting, foraging, and overwintering spots for multiple species, immediately making it capable of supporting complex ecological networks.

Our biologists have already observed the presence of the field digger wasp (Mellinus arvensis) – a species of solitary wasps that lives in underground sandy burrows and collects flies for their larvae. This exact wasp species reveals that Søndervold Natur Park already contains unique biological niches supporting complex biological networks, confirming our nature-based design as successful in upholding complex, healthy, and thriving biotopes.

fig. 7 - Kanalbyen neighborhood
fig. 8 - The field digger wasp is one of the insects registered i the park by SLA's biologists. Here, it is seen with prey.

Fundamentals

Come explore the fundamentals of our office together with us

fund. 27

White

“In the beginning was chaos. While the universe began to expand after Big Bang it also decreased in temperature. It became more and more ordered. With that order, the Universe changed its background colour toward…

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fund. 26

Atmosphere

“Atmosphere is a thin film of enclosure around our world. Without our vaporous, water filled atmosphere, life on Earth – or indeed life anywhere – would not exist. But atmosphere is also what you sense…

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fund. 12

Mist

Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such as…

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fund. 25

Roots

“A tree consists of three parts: Its foliage, its trunk, and its roots. All three parts are important for the aesthetic feeling of nature. But of these three I find the roots most intriguing, most…

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fund. 19

Essay: The Bark Room

“Bark is both living and dead, growing and cracking, a shell, a protective layer and an integral part of the wood’s tissue. It’s the bark structure and the way it peels, which separates the different…

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fund. 20

Sakuteiki
– The Book of Garden

Sakuteki – The Book of Garden is a manual, a textbook for Japanese gardeners in the 11th century. This introduction sounds like this: “In making the garden, you should first understand the overall principles. According…

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fund. 26

Sound

“Sound. The soundtrack of our lives often passes us by without us noticing. But I have begun noticing the poetry of the noises around me. The rhythm and the song of the poet. The calling…

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