© White Arkitekter and Beauty and the Bit

White Arkitekter’s Copenhagen studio has been selected as winners of a competition to design 115 individual homes as part of a social housing project in Denmark’s Allerød Municipality. Located north of the capital city of Copenhagen, the new neighborhood will be bordered by forest and a lake, inviting the nature in to complement and screen individual buildings. The project, titled “By the Woods,” will attempt to subvert typical preconceptions about social housing through the blurring of public and private space.

© White Arkitekter and Beauty and the Bit

In traditional affordable housing developments, public and private spaces are separated abruptly and unnaturally. In “By the Woods,” White Arkitekter has softened those lines by utilizing existing natural elements on the site, creating semi-public spaces that encourage residents to socialize in common areas.

“There is an unfortunate stigma attached to social housing; they are grey, static, generic, colossal buildings surrounded by parking lots, empty lawns and concrete,” says Morten Vedelsbøl, Creative Director at White Arkitekter in Copenhagen. “For us, it was important to have none of that, so we decided to let nature lead the way. Nature is dynamic and resilient – just like we want our neighbourhood to be”

© White Arkitekter

The project consists of 155 row houses of two, three or four rooms arranged to match the hilly terrain of the site. Sustainably-sourced wood is used to clad both exterior facades and interior walls, and additional natural elements line spaces between the buildings and on rooftops.

© White Arkitekter and Beauty and the Bit

“We deliberately created the sensation that nature is taking over. We wanted residents to have a sensuous experience with the woods when outside or looking through the kitchen window from the inside”, says Mikkel Thams, Design Architect and Project Manager at White’s Copenhagen studio.

To further blur lines between public and private, each unit features an individual terrace enclosed on the sides to encourage residents to move their living rooms outside. The terraces can also be used for garden beds or as an outdoor gathering space. There are, however, no fences throughout the complex, giving the neighborhood an open and inclusive feel.

© White Arkitekter

“Traditionally, the transitions between private houses and the outside were abrupt, discouraging people from personalising common areas and the exterior of their homes,” explains Vedelsbøl. “This sends a signal that the community comes before the individual, but it also alienates residents from using common areas, which turns them into dead zones.”

The project is slated for completion in 2018.

© White Arkitekter

© White Arkitekter

• Architects: White Arkitekter
• Location: Allerød Municipality, Denmark
• Design Team: Morten Vedelsbøl (Creative Director) Mikkel Thams Olsen (Architect and Project Manager), Ann Christiansen (Architect), Scott Grbavac (Architect), Daria Cichön (Architectural intern), Marija Ambrasaite (Architectural intern), Ivanka Ivanova (Architectural intern)
• Engineer: Oluf Jørgensen A/S
• Area: 11000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2018
• Photographs: White Arkitekter and Beauty and the Bit, White Arkitekter

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© Adrian Taylor

• Landscape Architects: Kinnear Landscape Architects
• Location: London, England, United Kingdom
• Architect: Mae Architects
• Landscape Architect / Urban Realm/ Lead Designer: KLA
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Adrian Taylor

• Engineer: Webb Yates Engineers
• Qs: Cinns
• M&E Engineer: Synergy Consulting
• Client: London Borough of Waltham Forest
• Budget: £4.3m for three sites, including Drapers Field

© Adrian Taylor

From the architect. Drapers Field has a strategic role in the Olympic Legacy. This new park in east London is the first project integrating new Olympic developments within the Olympic Park to existing communities. KLA were commissioned to revitalise three parks in Leyton in the east London borough of Waltham Forest, through Olympic Section 106 funds. Working strategically in the Lea Valley on these projects, KLA were responding to the London Legacy Development Corporation’s direction to ‘Stitch the Fringe’ around the Olympic boundary.

© Adrian Taylor

Leyton is a key regeneration area bridging the existing east London communities, the new East Village (formerly the Athletes’ Village) and the Olympic Park. Drapers Field, which was used during the 2012 Olympics as a service facility, sits at this intersection of new and old. The new park at Drapers Field is linked – via the KLA designed Temple Mill Lane – to several Olympic Village projects: the Chobham Academy and Community Playing Fields and four residential plots. KLA made strategic proposals for all these sites and the practice has used design to help bridge the gap between different projects on either side of the Olympic boundary. Historically, Drapers Field was primarily used for football but was greatly under-utilised by the local community. The initial client brief called for the re-provision of the sports facilities, the refurbishment of the pavilion and the development of a play area. Building on the client’s initial brief, a shared goal emerged that both existing and new communities should bene t from the idea of a wider Olympic Legacy – a legacy that encouraged children and young people into sport, through play and informal activity. This informed the design focus.

Plan

Therefore, a main aim for the park was to create a place of sport and play on the route to school at Chobham Academy, which is located within the Olympic Village. KLA have designed the external spaces for Chobham Academy within the Olympic Village, making it easy to have a common aesthetic between the two sites.

© Adrian Taylor

In addition to improved sport facilities, the innovative landscape encourages informal play and other active uses such as a cycling route which can also be used for cycle training. The refurbishment of the pavilion – to become a key community hub and cafe – also has a new strong, physical relationship to the park. The new bold, large-scale corrugated landscape makes the whole landscape playable.

Section

The enticing corrugated forms, made of grass and concrete, enhance the play opportunities and challenges of the play equipment. Cutting through the corrugated grass plane, the playful route also encourages spontaneous activity on the trampolines and other play elements located along it. Water-play, embedded within the corrugated forms, incorporates water pumps and children can control the water’s ow through channels, creating splash pools. The playful route to school includes a bike track with space for obstacles and for basic bike skills courses. This relates to the London Cycling Campaign’s drive for safe cycling routes to schools and to GLA objectives. By increasing footfall into the Olympic Village, Drapers Field is now one of the main opportunities for the new and old community to meet and integrate. KLA have now completed the Chobham Academy project within the Olympic Village and have also designed Temple Mill Lane with a playful urban realm to promote play on the route to school.

© Adrian Taylor

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