HOBRO – a city finds its lake, is the 1st prize winning proposal by Holscher Arkitekter, which aims to tie the historical center of Hobro to the harbor area. The philosophy behind the strategy is that the urban and landscape spaces are created first, then the streets and at last, the buildings. The architects wish to create a robust frame for a long lasting urban development. A strategy that allows the urban plan to exert itself and be experienced as completed in all phases of the development. More images and architects’ description after the break.
We suggest a new development divided into 3 east-west oriented structures, each with their own character and contribution to the infrastructure. The main concept involves creating a connection between the city and the fjord across the busy car road Brogade. With this connection, the city, the fjord and the cultivated landscape to the west are tied together.
Our aim is that the sequence of new urban spaces inherits the existing qualities of the historic city center. The old quarter was developed in an era when the urban scale was directly related to the human body. Projecting these qualities onto the project area is done by developing a detailed urban plan to obtain the qualities of the urban spaces rather than copying the architecture of city center.
The main aim of the new development is reestablishing the human scale in the urban and the landscape spaces as well as creating a link between the main street and the fjord. The link is created as a soft transition from the intimate scale in the city center to the spacious landscape scale of the fjord. A soft typological transition from the perimeter blocks to the warehouses in the harbor area.
The project is composed of 3 connections
- The northern connection – the flow of the riveris characterized by the proximity to the nature and marked by an avenue that constitutes of poplars. A sunken area along the water is established and a bridge leads to a path on the north side of the river.
- The central connection – the urban flow is not only central location-wise but also functionally. This connection contains the building mass that is extended from the city center towards east.
- The southern connection - the flow of the fjord is a movement from the city towards the fjord. It originates at the main square and continues through Østerstræde, to Havnegade and further to the Fjordplads. This stretch is the cultural connection where we suggest to relocate existing sculptures in the area in order to upgrade the spaces.
Urban spaces
The project consists of a series of urban spaces which, with their own characters, provide a varied city with different experiences. The large spaces are the Fjordplads and the Bustorvet. The Fjordpladsis a circular square, framed in by an in-situ molded concrete edge, which creates an outline for the activity on the square. The square is made of a gravel surface from which small grass slopes arise. The slopes are placed in order to create shelter without blocking the view of the harbor. The Bustorvis a well-defined space in the project area. The square is shaped like an island planted with 2 rows of cut plane trees and creates a calming frame for spending time.
Architects: Holscher Arkitekter
Location: Hobro, Denmark
Collaborators: SCHØNHERR (main consultant), Lindgaard A/S, Via Trafik
Team: Nils Holscher, Jakob Madsen & Mathias Ørntoft
Floor Area: 53 ha
Prize: 1st prize
Year: 2012-2013
