Jönköping Harbour Urban Development
Architect: Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects with STED, Beek Arkitekter, Hallemar Hejdelind, Gören Cars
Location: Jönköping, Sweden
Type: Competition, Masterplan
Year: 2023
Images: Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects with STED, Beek Arkitekter, Hallemar Hejdelind, Gören Cars
Recreation and access to the water has long been limited in the Swedish city of Jönköping, and in 2023 the municipality launched an international architectural competition to develop the city centre. The competition has now been decided and the winning proposal is ‘Vattenstaden’ by a Danish-Swedish architectural team led by Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and STED.
The following description is courtesy of the architects. Although Jönköping is connected to the 6th largest lake in Europe, Vättern, the access to the water has long been limited for the city’s 100,000 residents. The city’s harbour and canal bear the marks of an industrial era, which partially form a barrier to water access and recreation.
Now, an international architectural competition ‘Harbour Pier’ has been decided and the winner is the
Danish-Swedish proposal ‘Vattenstaden’, which revitalises the connection between city and water. The
proposal rethinks the urban areas around the harbour pier and the quay line towards the lake and at the
same time provides specific proposals for new recreational areas with a focus on movement, community
life, diversity, and nature.
Behind the proposal is a team of Danish Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and STED together with Swedish
Beek Architects, strategic advisors HallemarHejdelind and Göran Cars, professor and researcher in urban
planning and infrastructure.
From industrial shadow to dynamic water community
The winning proposal rethinks Jönköping’s relationship with the water and shows how an interdisciplinary architectural collaboration can anchor new architecture locally in realistic and realizable solutions. The team has focused on reusing many existing features and proposes a raised harbour course over the water on ecological wooden pillars, to limiting the shadows and disturbing the animal and plant life in the lake. Materials will include recycled sinusoidal corrugated sheets for the roof and lightweight timber structures that allow for flexibility over time. Solar panels will also be incorporated on the roofs. Finally, a consistent planting strategy in the urban plan will create a dynamic and biodiverse landscape both on land and in the lake.
‘Vattenstaden’ also induces new inclusive seating areas and facilities to create humanistic urban spaces
for the locals. Winter swimmers will have new facilities, rowing club members will be able to practice their water sports and attract new members, and there will be a green recreational area along the canal,
where art installations will come to life.
“The winning proposal fascinated the jury by developing the pier in an innovative way while preserving the pier arms and challenging the idea of what a pier can be. With careful and functional design, a flexible meeting place has been created with a focus on community, education, and seafaring in all its forms, while at the same time providing year-round access to Lake Vättern regardless of age, gender, finances, ethnicity, and functional variation” – Excerpt from the jury’s report
The winning proposal forms the basis for further work towards the local plan, and a staged process is
now underway to ensure anchoring in the local area.
Information about the competition
About the competition and the jury’s report
The winning proposal was selected from a total of 38 applicants, of which three were pre-qualified to
move forward in the competition. The jury writes about the proposal:
“The winning proposal fascinated the jury by developing the pier in an innovative way while preserving the pier arms and challenging the idea of what a pier can be. With careful and functional design, they have created a flexible meeting place with a focus on community, education, and seafaring in all its forms, while providing year-round access to Lake Vättern regardless of age, gender, finances, ethnicity, and functions. It is a proposal that shows a diversity of ideas, functions, and possibilities, while also highlighting new ways of encountering Lake Vättern.
The proposal is identity-creating and unique to Jönköping, as it is tailored to the meeting between Jönköping’s city life and the vast water space and forces of Lake Vättern. The proposal shows a richness of detail in both architectural ideas and execution that, thanks to the presentation, makes it easy to experience how the different places can be experienced.”
Bengt Mattias Carlsson, City Architect at Jönköping Municipality and chairman of the jury:
“This is Jönköping Municipality’s first major architectural competition in a long time and the design of the pier area in particular is an important project for our urban environment and Jönköping’s identity. All three submitted proposals were of a very high standard. Because the jury was in complete agreement, we have been able to make a clear decision on a winner, Vattenstaden, which is a fantastic proposal”.
Quotes
“Our vision is that Jönköping will be the city of the future for the people. The city centre becomes a recreational place where everyone can live, meet, and create social relationships. A place that is not just about cafés, commerce, and consumption, but about equal access to water, culture, and experiences for everyone. And it all needs be locally anchored, so the proposal is meaningful for the people of Jönköping,” says Jeppe Dueholm, Partner at Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects.
“Through conversations with key people and enthusiasts in the city, we have tried to understand the existing movements and driving forces so that we can strengthen them. We want to build the city from below, together with those who use them,” says Dan Hallemar and Veronica Hejdelind, HallemarHejdelin.
“With the Water City, we want to weave together the contrasts between the city and the lakes. And also between trade, port, tourism, and the everyday joy of movement. The proposal is based on Jönköping’s old city plan that takes the step out onto the water, with the experience of Sweden’s most unique lake in focus. Our hope is to inspire the inhabitants, including cold swimmers, boat enthusiasts, schools, and associations to take part in the continued development,” says Anna-Lena Ekman, Johan Bejne and Viktor Becker at Beek Architects.
“A good urban development project is characterized by the fact that, in addition to its own qualities, it also interacts with and contributes to the attractiveness of the surrounding city,” says Göran Cars professor and researcher in urban planning and infrastructure.
