Drammen Helsepark
Designing the landscape and public realm for 'Drammen Helsepark,' a single clustered collective for cutting-edge public and private Norwegian healthcare.
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Kjersti Wikstrøm
Managing Director, SLA Norway, Architect, Urbanist
Location
Drammen, Norway
Size
8.5 ha.
Year
2018 — 2050
Client
Drammen Helsepark A/S (Eidos and BaneNOR)
Role
Lead Landscape Architect
Partners & Collaborators
Dyrvik Arkitekter, GRAPE Architects, Rambøll
SLA is the lead landscape architect for ‘Drammen Helsepark’ – an ambitious initiative to centralize, strengthen and develop the Eastern Norwegian healthcare apparatus. SLA has been in charge of developing and overseeing the landscape concept and the design of parks, squares, courtyards, and green roofs in the 21-acre collective.
The site borders the newly developed state-of-the-art Drammen Hospital, which will provide 168 000 inhabitants with pioneering healthcare. The two main functions, the hospital and the healthcare collective, will be surrounded by a characteristic hierarchy of urban connective tissue that facilitates accessibility and green mobility.
“The entire area will be developed as a rich and interconnected network of nature-based urban spaces that will transform ‘Drammen Helsepark’ into a modern and sustainable neighborhood where nature contributes to mental, physical, and social wellbeing.”
— Kjersti Wikstrøm, Managing Director, SLA Norge
‘Helseplassen’ – a square framed by trees is established as the point of entry in the west. The gradually sloping terrain will create a playful and shallow water mirror that erects a natural boundary between the square and the passing traffic. The landscape is highly interactive and inspired by the coastal topography of the Norwegian fjords, which is further cemented in the urban floor patterns and vegetation.
A perpendicular central boulevard, ‘Stasjonsforbindelsen,’ perforates the collective, creating a direct connection to the local train station and a new access point to the hospital. The boulevard will function as an important recreational space with vegetation pockets and benches, simultaneously creating a main artery for pedestrians and cyclists.
By the central gathering places ‘Helseplassen’ and ‘Stasjonsplassen,’ and in the many courtyards and rooftops, technical solutions will be replaced by a successive vertical ecosystem for rainwater management, noise management, wind, and overheating. For example, lush foliage in the form of deciduous and broad-leaf trees will aid in wind dispersion and absorption of traffic noise. Excessive rainwater is furthermore addressed locally using open channels and rain gardens. The many urban spaces are interwoven through the urban floor, where the materiality and pattern usage unite the area into a cohesive whole.
The masterplan for ‘Drammen Helsepark’ obtained municipal approval in 2019, and construction started in 2022.
