Slussholmen - Södertälje
Sweden's largest lock will be renovated in 2022-2025 and with that the adjacent Slussholmen will be available for Södertälje municipality to develop. It will be an opportunity to create a long-awaited city park in the center of Södertälje. SYSTRA was commissioned to produce a design program for the park. The vision is for Slussholmen to be a city park for everyone, a green addition to the inner city, a place where Södertälje's location - between Mälaren and the Baltic Sea, along the water and between the slopes - becomes clear and visible. It must also be a place that respects the cultural environment and honors both the 20th century and the 21st century's "roaring twenties", which are times of great contrasts and challenges. Both of these times are also based on new relationships between cultures in society that arouse a sense of adventure and wonder. We see Slussholmen as a vessel for this, an opportunity to discover the abstract such as friendship, inspiration and dreams but also the opportunity to discover the islet's different parts, its atmospheres and activities. We hope that Slussholmen can become a 20th century cruiser in the present. The design of the park was done in close collaboration with the municipality's landscape and planning architects and with the participation of Södertälje's citizens. In addition to increased biological diversity, climate adaptation and connection to the city's traffic network, the design of the park has three focus areas;
Cultural environment as within the entire lock area there are several valuable objects saved, including buildings that can give an insight into what it was like when the lock was built in the 1920s. The entire area is also classified as an important cultural environment. We want to honor this precious environment by continuing with design principles inspired by Swedish Grace and also using materials that were used during that time, for example granite, wood and thin steel.
Water contact is a fact on Slussholmen, which is surrounded by water on all sides, we want to increase direct contact with the water and also bring as much as possible into the park. The relocation of Slussgatan enables a larger grass area that directly borders Maren. The park slopes down, with different slopes, towards the water, which gives different experiences depending on where in the park you are. There will be various piers that provide the opportunity to get out on the water and also water playgrounds and drinking water fountains with direct access to clean water.
Programs with play at the forefront aim for Slussholmen to go from being only a functional area to a park for Södertälje's citizens. This means that there will be room for different activities that suit different groups in society. During our citizen dialogue, the need and wishes to have a real playground in the center of Södertälje were raised, we wanted to work on this further and the park should therefore offer a large playground and other playful ways to experience the rest of the park.
Project made in collaboration with SYSTRA
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