MELLOM ROMMENE
FACTSHEET
PLACE: Indre Laksevåg, Bergen
AREA: n/a
YEAR: 2021
CLIENT: Bergen Municipality
TYPE: Urban planning, strategy
STATUS: Open international competition, procurement 50.000NOK
COLLABORATORS: KAP AS
TEAM: Kristin Hilde/Audun Hellemo, Hilde Stedje/Henrik Lundgreen/Tonje Broch Moe (KAP)
PUBLISHED: Norske Arkitektkonkurranser/NAK no 534 – link
RATING
SCALE (small>large)
STATUS (idea>built)
COMMERCIAL ($>$$$)
Bergen municipality is currently developing a new plan for the Inner Laksevåg area, and arranged an international ideas competition to get input to the process. Our proposal focuses on the characteristic in-between spaces in the Laksevåg area and proposes a robust, rule-based development strategy which focuses on performance and synergy rather than specific design. Opposed to generic harbor front developments, the proposal puts emphasis on the neglected main street as the backbone for new connections along and across the area, with a new pedestrian bridge as a catalyst for new development.
The site is strategically placed between existing and planned bridges. Instead of creating a new third connection in an area yet to be developed, we propose to take advantage of the existing Puddefjord bridge and use this as the structure for a new, suspended pedestrian bridge underneath. The new bridge-under-bridge connects areas in development, reuses an existing structure and turns the vast space under the bridge into a new urban experience.
By mapping the potential and challenges in the area, strategic areas for interventions are identified. Together they use the existing qualities as the premise for new development turning the area from an empty area with a vague identity to a new connector linking important areas in the city together.
Improvement in the area is dependent on a close collaboration between the different stakeholders, where new interventions in different scales can occur simultaneously.
To quote Venturi: The main street is almost all right.
Rules for how new and existing buildings face the street will improve the experience from a pedestrian view point step by step.
Together, the different strategic interventions create a new scenario for the area where private developers take part in enhancing the main street.
The new pedestrian bridge connects new and existing areas, adding a spatial experience not present today