Trondheim

Nyhavna avantgarde

Location: Nyhavna, Trondheim, Norway

Population: 180,000

Strategic Site: 41,9 ha Project Site: 6 ha

Commision after competition: Planning and building commision

Site proposed by: Trondheim Havn ( in collaboration with Trondheim Municipality

1. Prize: 12,000 EURO

Runner-up: 6,000 EURO

The city of Trondheim wants ideas for Strandveikaia, a site part of the greater Nyhavna harbour area. Distinctive waterfront architecture including WWII structures characterize the area and also provide a tremendous resource for a wide range of actors in culture, innovation and nightlife. A brewery on site, Ringnes, plans for a national centre for beer that can be the starting point for a new ecosystem of new urban life. How can the city create an urban space that acts as an engine for the transformation of the rest of the Nyhavna, adapting to sustainability and a growing Trondheim population?

City strategy

The Europan site is strategically important for Trondheim. Nyhavna sits next to “Midtbyen” the city’s urban core area. There is an ongoing planning process aimed at defining the municipality’s strategy for urban development of these harbour areas. This planning process has taken some time. The main concerns have been the long term planning of future harbor activities in the area in combination with the long term development of Trondheim city. The municipality and the harbor company have collaborated well during the planning process. General guidelines has now been established, and the master plan points at Strandveikaia as a local centre for the residential zone of the greater Nyhavna area.

Sites definition

The Strandveikaia site is strategic since it contains buildings that the harbor company itself owns. These are also buildings with short term contracts, meaning they can be easily be part of a first phase in the development of Nyhavna. The brewery is currently reorganizing, moving out its soft drink production and focusing entirely on beer brewing. The brewery wants to build on this by creating a national centre for beer culture with a restaurant and spaces for micro brewing. The majority of the buildings on site are part of a protected cultural historical building district. Built during the war by the Germans (together with the bunkers and other defence systems), the Strandveikaia buildings contained changing rooms and warehouses. Current use is a mix of artist studios, cultural institutions and storage. There is a wish to keep the buildings and build new ones, creating a unique zone facilitating a wide range of activities.

A large potential can be realized by developing Strandveikaia. The existing buildings represent an important resource and new buildings can contribute to the creation of a unique area in the city, mixing old and new architecture with an array of programs. An important task will be to examine how the waterfront can be developed over time, considering different scales of interventions and temporary programs. The area is as a game board where several initiatives can be taken simultaneously. The competition should envision how current and new actors can become a part of the future of this area.

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