Out of the 4 norwegian sites for E16, Risøy was the most comprehensive. The jury selected two complementary proposals as joint winners: Ripples in the water and The third space. 

One project with a clear long term vision that dares challenge the conditions of the brief complemented by another holistic proposal which excels in the social and environmental perspectives. Together, the jury believes,  these two teams can aid the municipality, and enter into dialogue with Aibel, in ways that can truly lead to a transformative process on Risøy. 

Winner: The Third space

Jury remarks: The winning project presents a holistic take on the development of Risøy. It is a comprehensive proposal that brings together the whole island and all the key actors in a new urban mix – a third space. Using the historic layers of the island as a starting point, three places for mixing are defined: Tollbugata Bukt – a park area in the north, Risøytorget – a square in the middle of the island, and a harbour square dedicated to new business development in the south. It presents a future development, where more people can live and work on the island, and most importantly actively co-exist. It also encourages a stronger collaboration between key actor Aibel and the city, potentially resulting in new industrial activity and improved urban space. The third space is a vision of a productive city, where synergies between systems, users, landscapes and harbour are the key components of the Risøy identity.

The authors address four fundamental changes influencing Risøy; climate change, the end of the fossil era, demography and growth in tourism and see them as opportunities and “drivers of change”. This leads to a strategy handling local issues of lack of qualitative public space, no reasons to visit and the barriers between port, pier, and residential areas.

The authors show a strong understanding of what sort of place this is and its capacity in a changing world. The illustrations are very convincing and the descriptive texts are well articulated. The descriptions of working with the municipal block and programming in different phases demonstrate a good understanding of process and involvement. The team demonstrates a will for visionary thinking, and the jury believes a fundamental discussion of the direction of Risøy is necessary to bring out the island’s full potential. In this lies a challenge to the city in order to facilitate a public discussion on Risøy’s strategic role in development of Haugesund.

Team:

Authors

• Johan van Ling (NL), architect urbanist
• Thijs de Boer (NL), urban planner
• Charlotte van der Woude (NL), landscape architect
• Lynn Ewalts (NL), architect

Collaborators

• Rick Buurman (NL), 3D designer

Multidisciplinarity is the starting point for both our approach and team composition of team Third Space. We are used to work on international assignments from our roles in the offices we work in. Our team has experience from creating regional visions to detailing outdoor spaces. Integrating and switching between these scales ensures an integral design and process.

Lynn (arch.) and Charlotte (landscape arch.) work at ZUS, an international office that develops solicited and unsolicited design and research in architecture, urbanism, and landscape design.

Johan van Ling (urb) and Thijs de Boer (urb) worked during the Europan at DZH which is an office for Architecture, Urbanism and Strategy. After the Europan they founded VOID (www.voidspaces.eu).

Winner: Ripples in the water

Jury remark: The main idea in this winning concept is to connect the island of Risøy closer to the mainland of Haugesund. The strength of the proposal is the clear and convincing plan that underlines this connection, and utilises the unused qualities of Risøy as an asset to both Risøy and the town of Haugesund. The grid layout from the old street structure from 1856, only cut off by Smedsundet, is used and further developed to integrate the two parts in a common structure and framework. There is a clear visual and physical connection between the east-west streets or commons and the mainland. The commons end in different hotspots; two temporary bridges and a pier with a ferry connection. Smedsundet is activated as a recreational grand canal. The role of the water in a biodiversity perspective is considered and understood. The coherent promenade around the island and access to the waterfront is also important in this perspective, a reason to cross the canal and explore Risøy. The promenade is connected to the cruise area with a bridge, also giving the cruise passengers a better welcome to both Risøy and Haugesund.

The street pattern north-west is also well organized with traffic in Sundgata and the road next to Aibel, and John Risøys street as a green road for pedestrians and a common neighbourhood garden shared by the opposite blocks of houses. This undulating green street also connects the two main parks, one in the north and one in centre by the main bridge, and establishes a readable and well-defined green structure.

The early phase actions are good. The development of the communal block as a strategic opportunity and tool to show how the structure of the existing buildings can provide quality of housing and public spaces, is well illustrated. The existing buildings in the mid area have a great potential to be attractive to younger families both as a result of the improved urban structure and the antiquarian qualities of the houses. It is important to allow small interventions in the facades, mainly to get better contact with the gardens and also to create half private areas along the facades and establish a more nuanced transition between public and private space. The proposal shows a potential for densification all over the island.

Team:

• Erlend Aalmo Strønstad (NO), architect
• Agathe Maud Juliette Monnet (FR), architect
• Ona Marija Auskelyte (LT), architect
• Ida Johanne Andersen Ve (NO), architect
• Olav Fåsetbru Kildal (NO), architect

The team behind our proposal “Ripples in the water” is Ida Johanne Andersen Ve (NO), Olav Fåsetbru Kildal (NO), Ona Marija Auskelyte (LT), Agathe Monnet (FR) and Erlend Aalmo Strønstad (NO). We are architects who practice in renowned Oslo based studios. Some of us also teach within architecture and landscape architecture. Our collective experience in the profession is broad. We are practitioners with background as designers and team leaders in complex building projects where relations between architecture, urban context and local community is a key feature. Specific experience at this scale ranges from schools, culture and art centres, offices, private housing complexes, and public administrative buildings. Further, we believe that a strength of our team is a mix of local and international backgrounds. We have professional and educational experience from cities like Barcelona, Paris, Vilnius, Milan, Bergen, and Oslo. We also have a close relation to the Haugesund region through documentation of coastal heritage sites and transformations within boat house environments. Through the competition we have developed an approach that aims to combine our local and international perspectives. Examples are methods of on-site collaboration with stakeholders at Risøy, historical readings, and studies of global trends within port-city development.