Hillerød, Denmark
2017 - 2019
Solrødgård Water Treatment Plant
Public appeal and public utility meet at Solrødgård Water Treatment Plant. The open, green-roofed facility blends into its surrounding landscape and provides community members with recreation, a connection to nature, and an everyday education in climate awareness.
Project details
Client
Hillerød Municipality
Status
Located in Hillerød, just north of Copenhagen, our design for Solrødgård Environment and Energy Park’s 12,800 m2 water treatment plant is fully immersed in its surrounding landscape.
Shifting the typology, the plant doesn’t have a typical industrial form – instead, the facility is embedded into the countryside, with its inner workings hidden under a grassy roof.
“The rooftop paths give a view over the rest of the park, but the central pathway is really where visitors can get an idea of how their community’s water cycle works, it’s symbolic of us cutting into the landscape to look within, creating a contrast between the natural water cycle and the constructed process that supports our communities,” says Eva Ravnborg, Director, Denmark, Henning Larsen.
“The rooftop paths give a view over the rest of the park, but the central pathway is really where visitors can get an idea of how their community’s water cycle works, it’s symbolic of us cutting into the landscape to look within, creating a contrast between the natural water cycle and the constructed process that supports our communities.”
Eva Ravnborg
Director, Denmark
A new, green recreational space
Created from the landscape itself, the water plant’s green roof is the project’s visual highlight, integrating smoothly into the park and nearby lake with plants from wetland and meadow environments covering its material. A landscaped pedestrian channel runs through the center of the plant, drawing visitors to look inside with floor-to-ceiling glass façades that put the water reclamation process on display. Here, various stories about the water cycle can be seen, from the cleansing process inside to the journey of rainwater outdoors.
The plant’s design allows visitors to form a personal connection to how their community uses and reuses natural resources – creating public appeal around a public utility. The facility’s design is cut into the landscape to look within, creating a contrast between the natural water cycle and the physical processes that support our communities. Part of a 50-hectare masterplan, the Solrødgård Environment and Energy Park, the facility aims to spark local conversation on resource use and climate awareness by creating an communal space within a municipal infrastructure. Providing space for recreation, opportunities to connect with nature, and an everyday education in climate, the water treatment plant supports future growth in and around Hillerød.
Contact
All contacts
Director, Denmark
Head of Department, Landscape
Next project
Bidadari Park
Explore project