The project proposal 'Bådparken' won first prize in the architectural competition of developing Aalborg Vestby. Bådparken is both about climate adaptation and about creating an attractive fjord and park life that connects the water with the city and supports the area's identity.

Today's challenge
Aalborg Vestby's coastal and harbor areas by the Limfjord are sensible towards flooding due to rising water levels and more frequent storms. It's a challenge for the port's construction and the business and residential area of ​​Aalborg Vestby. The area stretches from the closed Spritfabrik to Vestre Fjordpark, and is the last part of the area along the fjord, which is threatened by flooding and lacks connection to Aalborg city.

The proposal
The overall climate protection of Vestbyen is established with a dyke in the green park between the harbor and the city, as a winding landscape feature with naturally shaped, continuous hills that meander through the park, where it creates spaces and living niches, shielded from the busy road from the center towards Vestbyen. In order to create a connection between port and city, the dyke is broken with portals between city and port, which invite users of the area to stay by the water.

arki_lab's main contribution to the project is the design of a process that focuses on the locals, making sure they have a voice in the project and creating a space for designing the city with the people.

With a future characterised by storms and floods, the Bådparken project shows how coastal urban environments can be adapted and exist in accordance with climate change – and on the same time invite for increased community and urban life.