The Danish design firm CF Møller recently completed Storkeengen (Stork Meadow), a public park that is also a landscape-based solution to the challenge of reconnecting the town to the Gudenå River, while simultaneously making the area more resilient to flooding.
A raised public path boosts accessibility to the natural areas, while the constructed wetland meadows act as a sponge to absorb stormwater.
It’s also a climate adaptation project, resolving the city’s current and future climate challenges by converting the adjacent nature area. It integrates climate resilience strategies into local public safety and quality of life agendas and boosts nearby real estate values, all while benefiting wildlife: everyone wins.
This was achieved by combining visible technical wastewater solutions with locations for recreational activity and nature dissemination, increasing the area’s accessibility and bringing new nature experiences right into the heart of Randers.
With the help of new cloudburst channeling routes in Vorup, water is collected from roofs, car parks and roads, and led on to Storkeengen. Here, the water is collected in purification basins, designed as natural wet meadow areas, before being led out to the Gudenå stream.
A new dyke between Storkeengen and the Gudenå ensures good purification of the rainwater and protects the low-lying parts of Vorup from flooding due to storms. The dyke also creates new pathways between the centre of Randers and the nature areas to the west.
Storkeengen is considered to be a climate adaption project on nature’s own terms: the project’s technical wastewater solutions are designed to strengthen the nature qualities of the wetland meadows.
The new pathways and activity areas have been created so that Storkeengen’s unique flora and fauna—and the meadows’ changing habitat—can be experienced up close. The accessibility features make it possible to get close to the area’s grazing cattle, enjoy the sunset, or navigate the Gudenå stream by canoe.
All images courtesy of CF Møller.