Schønherr combines flood defence with urban park in Copenhagen

A winding brick path doubles as a temporary watercourse during heavy rainfall at this urban park in Copenhagen's South Harbour, which has been designed by Danish landscape architect Schønherr.

Called Karens Minde Axis, the park was commissioned by the municipality and utility company HOFOR to combine protection against cloudburst – flashes of heavy rain that often lead to flooding – with new natural spaces for the community.

Schønherr worked closely with nearby residents to ensure that existing features of the space, such as a playground, dog walking park and numerous mature trees, remained intact while the park was adapted.

"The project, which constitutes a yellow brick riverbed path, a watercourse, and an urban space, is designed with the philosophy of adding and subtracting as little as possible," said the studio.

"The ambition was to channel cloudburst water through the city in a sensible way, and as the project is located in a valuable cultural environment in Copenhagen, it builds on what is already there to create something new that does not feel alien to the area," it added.

Stretching 600 metres between two terraced residential streets, the park is organised around an area of circular wooden decking at its centre, which along with a nearby pavilion serves as a space for informal gatherings.

The winding brick pathway cuts lengthways across the site through the centre of this circle, combining more organic, flowing surfaces with areas of stepped seating.

During heavy rainfall, this sunken path is designed to handle 15,000 cubic metres of rainwater, channeling it through a purifying "trickle meadow" into a newly established rainwater basin.

When acting as a river, the park's central channel is still able to be traversed via small bridges.

"Besides serving as a new and green urban space, Karens Minde Axis is also used for the transport, storage, and purification of rainwater," said the studio.

"The technical water management not only contributes to functionality but also serves as an aesthetic element, literally unifying an area that was previously divided."

On either side of the path, green spaces have been planted with 70 new trees, while along the path and around the rainwater basin large rocks provide habitats for animals and insects.

"There are no benches or artificial lighting in the southern end of the park to avoid disturbing wildlife," explained the studio.

"At the same time, biodiversity has been enhanced due to the percolation meadow, the new rainwater lake with a CO2-reducing effect, shrub and bulb plantings, and the use of trunks from the few felled trees as deadwood in the facility."

Elsewhere in Denmark, architecture studio CF Møller recently completed a nature park that doubles as a flood defence system alongside the Gudenå river in Randers and Förstberg Ling created a cluster of volumes clad in charred pine for a home in  Zealand.

The photography is by Carsten Ingemann unless otherwise stated.

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