White Arkitekter creates a stormwater pond with space for everyone

Stormwater ponds are a technical necessity to cope with new demands in urban development. In the wake of the so-called Weser ruling by the European Court of Justice, cities are being asked to clean dirty water from roads and houses before it is discharged into the environment. At Exercisfältet in Uppsala, White Arkitekter, commissioned by Uppsala Municipality and Uppsala Vatten, have gone one step further to ensure that the dam will also create new values in the area.

­– With the stormwater pond at Exercisfältet, we have had the ambition to turn a technical facility into a place for people. The fact that this was also to be done in a sensitive cultural environment made the task complex. It is very gratifying to see how people are now welcoming it, which is proof that we have succeeded, says Charlotta Råsmark, lead landscape architect at White Arkitekter.

Around the pond there are generous spaces and paths inviting visitors to move along the water and sit down on one of the south-facing seats overlooking the field.

The vegetation has been carefully adapted to the natural conditions of the site and consists of a combination of species that are both hardy and have water purifying properties. The various parts of the pond are flooded by different amounts of rainfall and have great potential to develop into a good habitat for many different animals and plants.

Its location in a natural low point in the landscape allows the pond, despite its strong shape and the high altitude of the field, to land discreetly without disturbing the landscape and its cultural and historical values. Closest to the city, the pond has a sharp edge with a robust flood protection in the form of a concrete wall that follows the lines of the block division. Towards the open field, the pond follows the undulating forms of nature.

It is likely that the development along the pond will continue to evolve and move closer to the edge, providing even more life and movement. The pond is designed to accommodate this development and to provide an exciting interface between dense block structure and open landscape space.