Solrødgård Climate and Environmental Park
– Transforming farmland into a multifunctional landscape
The aim of Solrødgård Climate and Environmental Park is to combine nature and technology. The aim has been achieved through interdisciplinary collaborations between engineers, landscape architects, biologists, authorities and especially the utility company, which has been visionary and sustained through a long process in a complex project with many actors.
The Park is situated in the south-west part of Hillerød and is perceived as coherent landscape, with pockets for the individual functions. The Park houses a new headquarters for Hillerød Utility Company, a wastewater treatment plant and a recycling centre. The plan for the future is to expand with a geothermal system, waterplant, photovoltaic power station and a number of demonstration plots. Visitors to the Climate and Environmental Park are invited to explore close-up the various utility functions and processes, such as water treatment and the generation of green energy – energy cycles which are fundamental to daily life.
From an area primarily consisting of cultivated farmland, the area now encompasses larger and more varied nature types. As such, the area now includes large wetlands, hedgerows, groves and in time, smaller parcels of forest. Varied nature types and plants forms the basis for a diverse plant and animal life. The two existing stream located in the area have been redirected in order to provide better spawning grounds for fish. During construction, amphibians where protected with a special fence and their living space has improved significantly with the increase in wetland areas. Equally, bats where protected during construction. Their former living space, an old building, needed to be torn down and in order to provide them with shelter; a new “Bat Hotel” was constructed. The building has become a characteristic construction for the environmental park and an exemplification of its seriousness towards nature protection.
The sustainable story of the connection between recycling, energy production and nature is essential and needs to be communicated. The Environmental Park is a place where you can combine a trip to the recycling station with a walk in the park. Here you can experience and learn. Energy production and recycling is a resource not hidden away, but highlighted as an important part of our everyday life and our natural environment.
Via paths and bridges, you can walk and bike around in the area. Small sites “hotspots” have also been established. Here signs tells the story of the place. Examples of these are the bird tower, bat-hotel, recycling station or the water treatment plant. In the wetlands, you can watch birds and experience how the clean-up waste water from the treatment plant returns to nature. This way, you experience how nature and recycling is interconnected – resources return to nature.
Meadows have been re-established and designed as wetlands under normal conditions and water reservoirs during extreme rainfall. The capacity of the existing streams, Havelse Å and Slåenbækken, are the foundation for the wetlands. The wetlands are supplemented with cleanedup water from the new wastewater treatment plant and run-off water from the areas paved surfaces. As such, the wetland handles its own surface water from the park and surface water from Hillerød
south, via Havelse Å stream.
The wetlands can receive and store large quantities of water, app. 52.000 m3, which equals a 100 year event. Retention of water insures that Havelse Å isn’t causing unnecessary floods further downstream, which has previously been an issue. To minimize the environmental impact caused by run-off water from paved areas, the water is lead through oil separators and swales with filter base for infiltration and cleaning before entering the wetlands and connected streams.
Name of the project: Solrødgård Climate and Environmental Park
Project category: Infrastructure project
Project location: Solrødgård Hillerød
Design year: 2013
Year Built: 2018