The goal of the assignment for Active City Transformation was to develop an innovative outdoor space that included space for cultural exchange, physical activities – formal and informal – and a common space for social interaction across age, gender, ethnicity and class around the lake of Trekroner, 50km west of Copenhagen. The Trekroner Plaza now serves as a natural meeting place and by that creates a new quality of public life that engages the residents and the students of the University culturally, socially and actively.
The client group was made up by the Municipality of Roskilde, the Roskilde University as well as the Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities.
The site was prior to the project completion characterized as a transit space by mainly commuters and students of the Roskilde University. Divided by the lake the area was cut into two parts without any significant connection or facilities to accommodate the recreational value and potentials within the site.
The design established an attractive network of routes and plazas around the lake, which interlink between and activate the surroundings through sport courts, pedestrian, jogging and bike routes, skating facilities and recreational pavilions. The activities work as vertexes within the network and serve as points for orientation and furthermore establish a hierarchy around the area.
The project was able to transform the otherwise disused and unattractive area into an appealing and central point within the city’s fabric. The lay-out connects over the lake and works as an invitation to stay, meet and be together. The vision behind it is to increase the communication between students, employees of the nearby business area and residents of Trekroner and combines the given natural landscape with new and dynamic urban elements.
The process was accompanied by several workshops and discussions with inhabitants of Trekroners as well as people from the municipality and the university.
Trekroner Plaza | Roskilde, Denmark | Active City Transformation
Design Firm | Active City Transformation
Consultants | Sloth Møller
Image and Text credit | Active City Transformation