The city of Uppsala is growing and the urban structure is being densified. What used to be a golf course and an old shooting range with lawns and forest islets is now being developed into a residential area, planned for 3500 new housing units. Rosendal is located close to the inner city and bordered by two forest reserves. The new blocks and streets are designed with inspiration from the surrounding nature and forest islets are preserved within the area.

Carlshage and Siegbahnsparken are designed to function as one coherent central greenspace. Together they form the new district park in Rosendal. The park preserves and develops biological values in the area and connects the two forest reserves, which creates an important ecological link.

The ambition has been to create an attractive park for the residents, including and highlighting the values in the existing and preserved nature. Both on site and in the surroundings. The park has been planned into several zones with a gradient of characters: the ridge, the field, the meadow, the cherry valley, the flowering valley and the crofter’s garden. The different zones represent various types of nature and characters of the site today. The different nature characters are further developed, and they form sequences of various environments for the visitor to experience. The design of each part aims to enhance the differences, while the whole is held together by the continuous pedestrian paths.

A stated goal for the design of the district park has been to conserve and develop biological values and to maintain an ecologically cohesive structure. Several trees and existing vegetation worthy of protection have been inventoried and protected. Another aim has been to make wildlife visible in an educational way. New nests for animals are added and marked and areas with trunks and wood for rare insects are created. Paths are added, encouraging children to explore the wild green and making it accessible.

Uppsala municipality’s strategy in Rosendal is to primarily delay and purify stormwater locally. Visible and open stormwater solutions are sought for aesthetic, pedagogical and biological reasons. The park plays an important role to handle a large part of Rosendal’s stormwater. An open system of ponds will except being a purely technical solution, also add pedagogical and aesthetic values to the park. I will also benefit plant and animal life. There are both shallow and deeper parts that benefit a variety of different species. Along the elongated stormwater system, you can find several sites to sit down on wooden decks in the sun.

The design of Carlshage and Siegbahnsparken are based on the goal of creating inclusive places that promote equal use of all the different parts and spaces. The parks create conditions for different target groups to meet, hang out and be physically active based on their own interests and needs. Everyone should have the opportunity to take a seat and stay on equal terms regardless of gender, genus, ethnicity, functional variation and age. The parks offer a variety of activities with different orientations that are linked to social functions, which means that each part contains a choice and diversity of uses. Several of the park’s parts and zones have a flexible design that promotes spontaneous use. Paths accessible to everyone makes it easy to move through the park. Different options for sitting and staying offers something for everyone. A well balanced lighting in all parts of the park creates a safe and pleasant environment during all times of the day.

The park offers several spaces with playing opportunities for children of all ages, all designed with nature and wildlife as a source of inspiration. A large adventurous playground for youths, cabins for play and climbing towers, a sledding hill, a flower garden adapted for the youngest ones and a playground inspired by frogs living in the area – The frog playground. There are plenty of places for meeting and socializing along the continuous pedestrian routes. The field in the middle of the park is a gathering open space for ball games, activities and socializing. In Siegbahnsparken, the carefully preserved pine forest is the dominant nature type. The highest point in the park, the ridge, is highlighted by a climbing tower with an outlook point in a shape inspired by a pinecone.

The first stage – Siegbahnsparken was finished in the late fall of 2019. Carlshage will be completed during 2021.

Construction: WSP AB.

Ecologists: Ekologigruppen.

Sculptor: Mattias Bäcklin

Project location: Rosendal, Uppsala, Sweden

Year Built: Siegbahnsparken 2019, Carlshage to be completed in 2021.

Client: Uppsala municipality
Photos: Göran Ekeberg, Karavan landskapsarkitekter