”We create connections between people and places – and expand the boundaries of architecture through a multidisciplinary approach.”
LABLAND is a multidisciplinary and dialogue based studio. We are landscape architects, urban planners, experience economists and anthropologists brought together by the need to create meaningful and inspiring spaces.
We work in cross-disciplinary teams and believe that city planning and landscape design is all about social communities and relations between people and places. That is why our projects are developed in close collaboration with the developer and the users though innovative participation processes.
We use anthropological methods, dialogue and design processes as tools in designing the landscapes. Our services range from strategic city planning to designing and constructing parks and urban spaces. This allows us to partake from idea to creation.
Laasby Sea Park is the first of its kind in Denmark designed specifically for climate change, cross-gym and recreational use. The Sea Park makes use of rainwater as a resource to transform a former industrial area in Laasby into a liveable park full of fun activities, which moreover makes the town landscape unique and an attractive place to live and stay. This solution has put an end to the reoccurring flooding of Laasby.
The Sea Park is constructed with three storm water reservoirs that strengthen the landscape against the rising volumes of rain in the future. It works with three different levels of water; for normal levels, for 5-year floods and for 100-year floods, which make the Sea Park a long-lasting solution.
Special designed cross-fit elements are placed around and within the reservoirs. The sculptural elements can be used for physical training and as play installations for children. No matter what level the water is at, there’s still something going on in the park worth visiting.
A 0.5 miles long walking path connects the area and invites children, adults and elderly to explore the Sea Park. The path takes you to a beach volleyball court, a nature inspired playground, a hilly landscape for skateboarding and a resting area constructed as wooden sitting steps down to one of the water reservoirs. A group of local citizens was involved in the design process.
Laasby Sea Park has recently been awarded The Architecture Award of Skanderborg Municipality 2017
DEVELOPER: Skanderborg Municipality and Skanderborg Forsyning A/S | Niels Bohrs Vej, DK-8670, Låsby | 45.000 sqm | 2014 – 2016 | 19 million DKK | COLLABORATORS: EnviDan A/S and engineering firm VIggo Madsen A/S
The vision of this project is to create new experiences in nature for children, young people and adults in the city.
The Climate Pavilion combines rainwater management with play and physical activity, and is placed in a larger ‘climate corridor’ that runs from the open country to the city center of Kolding. The City Park in Kolding is the center of the climate corridor and here you find the Climate Pavilion. The pavilion is built in sustainable wood and designed as an open shelter that invites visitors to stay regardless of wind and weather.
The interior design of the pavilion has three functional areas: a barbecue area for cooking, a dining area, and a teaching area with tables, cupboards and a blackboard. Furthermore, the pavilion’s stairs, and wooden terrace offer a nice stay with a view of both the lake and the meadow.
Jacob Færch, Development Consultant at the Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities, says about the project: ”The climate pavilion are able to support a variety of activities in the urban nature: New activity opportunities for joggers, a new place for families’ play and experiences with nature, and a new alternative environment for the education of primary schools.”
The project is constructed in close co-operation with carpenter Jørgens Lund Frederiksen A/S, and is a part of the Urban Nature campaign ‘CityNatureSpace’ by The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities and the Danish Outdoor Council.
DEVELOPER: Kolding Municipality | The City Park, DK-6000, Kolding | 125 sqm | 2015 – 2017 |1.4 million DKK | COLLABORATORS: Jørgen Lund Frederiksen A/S
The Cultural Space in Thisted transforms the city park ‘Christiansgave’ to a modern cultural space. The main feature is called the Ring of Culture – a network of trails that connects the park’s surrounding cultural institutions; the library, the music school, URT (the Youth Council in Thy) etc. The Ring of Culture attracts the citizens and visitors to discover the new park. Along with the Ring of Culture, visitors experience small cultural pockets, featuring sculptural facilities with interactive and playful installations.
The Cultural Space is based on a 4-room thinking that includes the elements: learning, meeting, inspiration, and performance, which can all, be found in the park. In the heart of Christiansgave a special designed outdoor scene is established. The scene can be used for concerts, theater, or other performing arts. The back of the scene is designed as a staircase that can be used for play and outdoor school lessons. The park and scene facilities are designed so that Christiansgave in the future can form a framework for the city’s annual music festival ‘Alive Festival’, and where all the city’s institutions and citizens can gather for new cultural activities.
The Cultural Space has received donation from The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation. The project is constructed in close collaboration with the end-users and the architectural firm Kjær & Richter A/S.
DEVELOPER: Thisted Municipality | Christiansgave, DK-7700, Thisted | 90.000 sqm | 2015 – 2017 | 8 million DKK | COLLABORATORS: Kjær & Richter A/S
Kolding Municipality has an ambition to inspire local citizens and visitors to stay longer in- and use the city more often. In the recent five years Kolding has focused on how to develop the city environment through design processes and citizen participation. The Play Spots are the result of one of the subprojects born out of the main vision of redesigning the city environment.
The Play Spots focus on making the children more visible in the city landscape and create the framework for fun and alternative physical activities for children in the heart of the city space. LABLAND has designed four Play Spots:
01. The Mikado is built in wood and placed at the main entrance of the library. It consists of tree trunks on top of each other and is inspired by the game Mikado.
02. The Wave is located between two main streets and consists of wavy concrete elements in blue colors.
03. The Tunnel in Brostræde consists of a green tunnel and side elements in metal.
04. Mortensens Screens is inspired by the work of the artist Richard Mortensen and is located in front of Nicolai Culture Centre.
”The city center must have activities that invite both play, movement and stay, which the new Play Spots fulfill. We placed them in places where many people come by every day, and so we hope the children will start interacting with the installations on their own initiative,” says landscape architect Alexander Priesemann from the City and Development Administration in a press release.
DEVELOPER: Kolding Municipality | Kolding city center | 2015 | 0.5 million DKK | COLLABORATORS: Kolding Municipality
LABLAND architects and Team Vandkunsten have developed a plan for the old county hospital on Tage Hansens Gade in Aarhus. The 80 years old hospital is transformed into a new living district with its own unique identity. The vision is to construct a new urban neighborhood with 2.500 homes for young students, families and elderly in the heart of Aarhus.
The overall plan is based on the cultural history of the place and offers attractive housing opportunities in different forms. Furthermore, the plan focuses on recreational environments and functional dynamics, which support the spirit of the place.
The county hospital’s major historical qualities – material and intangible – form an important resource in the development of the new urban district, where new buildings and plant species are integrated with the old ones.
The structure of the architectural landscape consists of two main axes. The historic East-Western axis through the gate is re-marked by rebuilding the original wooden lane from the garden plan. The blue-green wedge in the North-Pacific axis creates a recreational route through the public park in the center of the area – a recreational public connection that becomes a strong link to the surroundings and invites the whole city into the area.
The ambition is to design the new living district in close co-operation with the citizens and to experiment with temporary mockups as innovative design tools in city planning.
DEVELOPER: Aarhus Municipality | Tage Hansens Gade, 8000-DK, Aarhus C | 67.000 sqm | 2016 | 500 million DKK | COLLABORATORS: Vandkunsten A/S, Smith Innovation ApS, Anne Tietjen and Danish Energy Management & Esbensen
