Melonparken is an elongated district park located between the districts Hässelby Strand and Hässelby Villastad in western Stockholm, Sweden. Previously, it was a relatively anonymous green area that residents mostly pass through. It lacked major ecological values with it’s large heterogeneous grasslands.
The goal for AJ Landskap was to connect surrounding residential areas and develop the park with new additions that populate and activate the park. The ambition has been for the park to become a green meeting place in the district with space for small children, young people, adults and the elderly, where the park’s ecological values are simultaneously preserved and strengthened.
The park’s elongated south-facing brows have been a starting point for the design. By strengthening and developing the valley’s changing vegetation characters, the park route can be transformed from a recreational route into an experience route with a focus on nature pedagogy, the joy of discovery and mystery.
The park becomes a sequence of park rooms where you are attracted to get close to everyday nature through new inviting site formations with inspiring design. Subtle additions with information, facts or messages about the different types of vegetation and its role for, for example, pollinators and amphibians are integrated into furniture and equipment. The idea is that the redesigned park will make the changing values of the natural lands accessible to everyone, and at the same time have an identity-strong and playful character. The design of the park focuses on how the ecological aspects of the route can best be developed and strengthened.
In part of the park, a swamp forest has been proposed that creates a quiet and peaceful place where you can get close to the forest’s natural values and wildlife. The swamp forest is made accessible through a footbridge that finds its way in between the eagles. A portal shows the way in. Small subtle messages and embedded information in furniture create a certain mystery and become a beautiful detail. Inside the trees, the footbridge is widened to a larger gathering place with available seats that can be used by eg school groups. A small information sign describes the unique swamp forest environment and the animals that live there, such as various amphibians.
In a central part of the park, integrated seating areas at different levels have been proposed, and small flowering trees and perennial plantings create a flexible and identity-strong meeting place together with a boules court. Here is an information sign for the entire park where the area’s varied natural environments and nature experiences are described. The garden will be a gathering place for spontaneous play and games for all ages. The place is supplemented with an activity area for young people with balance equipment, slackline and volts. Lens-tight lighting frames the space, creates spaciousness and gives a cozy feeling. Next door is a larger bench for picnics for large and small parties. A climbing sculpture next to the boules courts connects the playground and the garden and creates an identity-creating destination for both older and younger people who want to climb or sit and hang out.
With its new design, Melonparken raises the residents’ quality of life by bringing together ecology, nature education and social values in a new district park.
Project location: Melonparken
Friherregatan 53
165 58 Hässelby
Sweden
Design year: 2018
Year Built: 2020
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