In the Nordvest neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark, a derelict lawn in a social housing estate built in the 1950s has been transformed into a climate park designed to manage vast amounts of water. Grønningen-Bispeparken is a masterwork of multipurpose design: it protects the community from flooding while increasing biodiversity and providing social and play spaces.
According to landscape architecture firm SLA, the 5-acre park is the city’s “most radical nature-based climate adaptation project to date.” In recognition of its forward-thinking example, the park won this year’s International Rosa Barba Landscape Prize.
“Grønningen-Bispeparken … encourages us all to get to work, adapting our cities to a changing climate, with the clarity of [its] design process and a concept that is replicable, plus an outcome that is both transformative and beautiful,” said Kate Orff, FASLA, chair of the prize jury and founder of SCAPE.
SLA says the original green areas, designed by famed Danish landscape architect C.Th. Sørensen, had “fallen into unsafe disrepair with no activities, use, or play areas for local kids and residents.” Lawns were “unable to manage or contain rainwater – resulting in ‘rainwater motorways’ during thunderstorms – while also being very low on plant variation, wildlife, and biodiversity.”
Their solution was to sculpt the flat lawn into sloping green areas that collect, contain, and infiltrate the 32,000-square feet of stormwater that hits the park and surrounding streets and courtyards.
They accomplished this through an “interconnected series” of 18 bioswales that serve both a climate and social purpose. The swales steer water in the landscape and provide the framework for “playful, nature-rich, and safe meeting places for community and togetherness.”
The bioswales provide the boundaries of outdoor rooms that provide different functions. Some spaces are designed to collect water and are just for nature and wildlife. Others are designed not to accumulate water but to serve as play spaces, lawns for sports, farmer’s markets, and pocket squares. A disused underground Cold Water bunker forms the foundation of a new hill for lounging in the summer and sledding in the winter.
A path of gravel and yellow-tone pavers recycled from Copenhagen construction sites brings community members through the spaces. In places, the path is wide and in others, it “dissolves” into the landscape and is only visible by small lighting bollards.
The lawns were also replaced with a diverse range of tree and plant species, which contributes to the long-term resilience of the park and community. SLA planted 149 trees from 23 different species and more than 4 million seeds of “specially crafted seed mixtures.” The landscape architects also preserved the park’s buckthorn trees.
“Solutions that support local biodiversity are fully integrated into the nature-based climate solutions,” said Sune Rieper, partner with SLA. “During the design process, we mapped existing flora and fauna and ensured the new planting schemes and water systems reinforced them – while also creating optimal conditions for new and more resilient biological life.”
There are also cultural layers woven into the new design. In the original park, Sørensen framed views of Copenhagen’s Grundtvig’s Church. SLA preserved those views through its new tree and park elements. Also incorporated are new functional wood artworks by Kerstin Bergendal, crafted with landscape studio Efterland. The artist worked with SLA to integrate the structures into the park design, creating unique exercise and play spaces.
To lower the carbon footprint of the project, SLA reused on-site materials and surplus construction materials from the City of Copenhagen as much as possible, reducing transportation emissions. “All the soil and clay we used to shape the mounds and bioswales are from the site. We also retained several existing and quite old concrete retaining walls and used some of the concrete materials in new ways,” said Bjørn Ginman, senior lead designer at SLA.
“Granite stones from old stair treads were used as informal and rough paving in several of the bioswales. All the classic Copenhagen benches throughout the park are reused. And selected stones and bricks from the city’s many construction sites were placed and used for paving throughout the park.”
Ginman said “the emissions agenda really accelerated during the 5-plus years we were developing the project. In hindsight, we probably wouldn’t have cast the new retaining walls in concrete. Today, we would use alternative materials like rammed earth or similar. However, we did manage to reduce several planned concrete seating walls.”
Rieper hopes the park will spur on broader changes. “It is less about how the project looks and more about how it feels and how it functions. We hope the prize will encourage the entire construction industry to be even more ambitious in creating space for all life in our cities – social, biological, and cultural,” he said.
SLA explained that five days after the park opened in 2024, a major thunderstorm hit Copenhagen, flooding highways. But the rain only made Grønningen-Bispeparken “more lush and beautiful” and its surrounding buildings and infrastructure remained dry. Now imagine every community with a park like this.