The project for a new urban community in Skien was awarded 1st prize in the international competition. The project transforms a former harbor area into a new compact urban community with housing, offices, retail, and urban space.

The vision for Skien Brygge is to create a new sustainable urban community in close relation to the city, the water, and the landscape. Compact cities use less energy and natural resources. At the same time the compact city provides accessibility to events, experiences and city life. Some of the most attractive places on earth are also some of the densest. In our proposal for a new development on Skien Brygge we introduce a compact and dense urban plan. A series of new public spaces ties the city together –urban squares, parks, natural landscapes, narrow streets, niche parks, pathways and waterfronts.

Skien Brygge is the first Norwegian urban planning project

The new Skien Brygge promotes holistic urban development and facilitates a sustainable lifestyle with low consumption of energy and resources. The project is a collaboration with A-lab.

Pilot Project

Skien Brygge is a pilot project for BREEAM Communities – an internationally recognised environmental certification for urban development projects. The aim is that this project be graded as “Excellent”.

From Day One the project has had a strong focus on sustainability, emphasising environmental, social and economic sustainability parameters. For instance, the urban development strategy calls for dense and compact buildings, which demand less energy and also reduce transportation needs. The strategy also calls for enhanced contact between the neighbourhood and surrounding landscape, and for a variety of public spaces that may be utilised in different ways. In sum total, this lays a fertile foundation for a plan that is robust enough to foresee future development and changes.