Allinge Coastal Promenade

The 500-meter-long coastal promenade connects Allinge town, the cliffs, the sea, and the central square of ‘Folkemødet’, the annual political festival in Allinge. The design adapts to the landscape and does in this way create niches for stay, play, and discussion on the route. Additionally, the promenade creates new opportunities to get close to the rocks and the sound of waves in the coastal town.

The coastal promenade is an outcome of the master plan that SLA made for Allinge in 2015. For most of the year, Allinge forms the framework for the quiet everyday life of 1,400 inhabitants. But when spring arrives, Allinge expands and becomes the ‘City of Folkemødet,’ and, in the following months, a tourist town, where visitors from all over Europe come to enjoy the nature of North Bornholm.

Therefore, the plan’s central goals were to make Allinge an attractive destination all year round and to enhance existing qualities that would enable future investment in housing, retail, tourism, and innovation.

With the masterplan, SLA shows how the Island of Bornholm has exactly what is needed to create a modern, social and cultural community. Focusing on the extraordinary values on the island of Bornholm – the well-defined geography, the local cultural history, the unique nature, and the great local community and engagement – Allinge’s future success is made possible by a strong and flexible design framework.

The central design element in SLA’s proposal, the coastal promenade, became a reality in 2019-2020 thanks to funding from Realdania and Bornholm’s Regionskommune.  Thus, the promenade now creates new connections and experiences between the many sites and events of Allinge – and feeds into a cohesive and valuable urban development.