Sweco, AB

Sandgrund Park

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

Sandgrund Park

Thorbjörn Andersson + Sweco Architects

ARCHITECTS
Sweco Architects, Thorbjörn Andersson

PHOTOGRAPHS
Kasper Dudzik, Åke E:son Lindman

DESIGN TEAM
Johan Krikström, Jimmy Norrman, Emma Norrman, Lisa Hellberg,
Margareta Diedrichs, PeGe Hillinge, Lennart Knutsson, Helena Björnberg

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Thorbjörn Andersson

CLIENTS
City of Karlstad

AREA
40000

YEAR
2008

LOCATION
Karlstad, Sweden

CATEGORY
Public Space, Park

Text description provided by architect.

At one point in its length, the Klar River that runs through the city of Karlstad splits to form a 300-meter-long cape; from the air it appears as the pointed beak of a bird.

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

The cape is a powerful landscape, a place of considerable drama, and the site of Sandgrund Park (Sandgrundsparken).

For many years before the park’s construction, the area had been fairly desolate, without a sense of destination.

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

The river was an obvious feature to address in the design process, as well as the cape, whose pointed tip terminates in the water. Those same qualities are reinforced and amplified in the design of the park.

A system of boardwalks along the river’s edge extends into the water, welcomes the sunset, and stresses its proximity to the water.

The tip of the cape was given a more architectural profile, reshaped into a 40-meter-long viewing platform.

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

The ground was modelled as an undulating terrain of five parallel ridges, the first measuring six meters in height, the remaining mounds given gradually lower profiles.

Their elevated crests offer green viewpoints along the ridges; in contrast, the valleys between them provide containment.

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

Every other valley harbours a distinct plant habitat, among them a beech forest, a magnolia grove, and a fern valley.

The aim of Sandgrund Park design has been to transform an anonymous sandbank into a place of significance, a place in which, and from which, to enjoy the grandeur of the surrounding river landscape.

Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik

It is a place to gaze at the river and enjoy its flow and reflections through the variations of all four seasons.


Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik


Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik
Sandgrund Park
© Kasper Dudzik


Sandgrund Park
Plan 01
Sandgrund Park
Plan 02
Sandgrund Park
Plan 03
Sandgrund Park
Plan 04
Sandgrund Park
Plan 05


Sandgrund Park
Details
Sandgrund Park
Sections

Sweco, AB
T +46 8 6956000
Sweco, AB
Gjörwellsgatan 22, 112 60 Stockholm, Sweden