Linnanniemi – a gateway of Turku, squeezed between the city and one of the most prolific archipelago‘s in the world marks the point where both conditions should meet. Situated mostly on a low-lying land that was once the sea, the area of natural setting to the medieval castle turned into a grey territory for industry and transportation. This transformation left the area not only as just a transfer point but also vulnerable to the future posed threats of climate change. Only by reintroducing nature as part of the story for Linnanniemi it can become the missing link between the city and the vast archipelago representing the versatile identity of Turku.
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The site comprises three strong themes: historical background with the medieval Turku castle, the Aura riverfront of vibrant, growing city and a busy harbour welcoming many visitors throughout the year. These three themes shape the three distinct characteristic pieces interlocking together with the Castle Park at its heart. By surrounding existing castle park with a necklace of green public spaces, the park is stretched all the way to the waterfront becoming the backbone of nature, serving as a healthy recreational space to densely populated surrounding areas, a natural barrier from the intense industrial port to breath clean air into the city and a softscape preventing the area from flooding.
The Maritime Neighbourhood to the East mixes residential with service programs and Forum Marinum functions extending the vibrant riverfront to a shared zone for local community and city visitors. Lastly the Harbour City besides ensuring efficient and diversified city and archipelago connections also combines variety of services, turning the area from a transfer point into a destination with sustainability and innovation at its core. The three pieces are joined together through a sequence of diverse public spaces with the most prominent anchor functions attached, creating a loop of vibrant experience throughout. The most important public programs of Forum Marinum, Museum for History and the Future and Turku Castle are equally spread through the masterplan and becomes the central figures of each character zone.
Since Turku is halfway situated on water, the introduction of water transportation hub together with an operable bridge joining the banks of Aura river at its mouth, ensures integration of Linnanniemi into the wider loops of Turku and its archipelago. The flood risk for the low-lying area of the masterplan is tackled by creating a barrier from the sea at the waterfront edge by elevating the whole ground floor level of the buildings or introducing a raised border. The intensified green spaces and landscape pond system of the park helps to absorb excess rainwater, while the central Harbour City water axis acts as a continuous open gutter and water storage system. All the existing buildings are maintained and reconstructed following the circular economy principles and all new construction is proposed to be made out of timber – the renewable material that is locally harvested in Finland. With all these measures, the area can meet the ambitious targets of Turku as carbon neutral city by 2029.
The site comprises three strong themes: historical background with the medieval Turku castle, the Aura riverfront of vibrant, growing city and a busy harbour welcoming many visitors throughout the year. These three themes shape the three distinct characteristic pieces interlocking together with the Castle Park at its heart. By surrounding existing castle park with a necklace of green public spaces, the park is stretched all the way to the waterfront becoming the backbone of nature, serving as a healthy recreational space to densely populated surrounding areas, a natural barrier from the intense industrial port to breath clean air into the city and a softscape preventing the area from flooding.
The Maritime Neighbourhood to the East mixes residential with service programs and Forum Marinum functions extending the vibrant riverfront to a shared zone for local community and city visitors. Lastly the Harbour City besides ensuring efficient and diversified city and archipelago connections also combines variety of services, turning the area from a transfer point into a destination with sustainability and innovation at its core. The three pieces are joined together through a sequence of diverse public spaces with the most prominent anchor functions attached, creating a loop of vibrant experience throughout. The most important public programs of Forum Marinum, Museum for History and the Future and Turku Castle are equally spread through the masterplan and becomes the central figures of each character zone.
Since Turku is halfway situated on water, the introduction of water transportation hub together with an operable bridge joining the banks of Aura river at its mouth, ensures integration of Linnanniemi into the wider loops of Turku and its archipelago. The flood risk for the low-lying area of the masterplan is tackled by creating a barrier from the sea at the waterfront edge by elevating the whole ground floor level of the buildings or introducing a raised border. The intensified green spaces and landscape pond system of the park helps to absorb excess rainwater, while the central Harbour City water axis acts as a continuous open gutter and water storage system. All the existing buildings are maintained and reconstructed following the circular economy principles and all new construction is proposed to be made out of timber – the renewable material that is locally harvested in Finland. With all these measures, the area can meet the ambitious targets of Turku as carbon neutral city by 2029.
Location
Turku, Finland
Client
City of Turku
Year
2020
Program
Urban Planning
Size
Area 35,0 ha Public 33 300 m² Residential 26 300 m² Commercial 24 300 m² Office 20 100 m² Hospitality 18 500 m² Total 122 500 m²
Status
Competition, 1st Prize
Team
Santtu Hyvärinen
Collaboration
After Party (Gabriele Ubareviciute, Giedrius Mamavicius)
Consultans
Traffic - Sitowise (Esa Hartman, Matias Härme)
Linnanniemi - a gateway of Turku, squeezed between the city and one of the most prolific archipelago‘s in the world marks the point where both conditions should meet. Situated mostly on the low-lying land that was once the sea, the area of natural setting to the medieval castle turned into a grey territory for industry and transportation. This transformation left the area not only as just a transfer point but also vulnerable to the future posed threats of climate change.
Three Pieces
The area of the masterplan comprises three strong themes that represent the unique identity of Turku: historical background with the medieval Turku castle, the Aura riverfront of vibrant, growing city and a busy harbour welcoming many visitors throughout the year. These three themes shape the three distinct characteristic pieces with the Castle Park at its heart.
By surrounding existing castle park with a necklace of green public spaces, the park is stretched all the way to the waterfront becoming the backbone of nature, serving as a healthy recreational space to densely populated surrounding areas, a natural barrier from the intense industrial port to breath clean air into the city and a softscape preventing the area from flooding.
Public Loop
The three pieces are joined together through a sequence of diverse public spaces with the most prominent anchor functions attached, creating a loop of vibrant experience throughout. The most important public programs of Forum Marinum, Museum for History and the Future and Turku Castle are equally spread through the masterplan and becomes the central figures of each characteristic zone.
Since Turku is halfway situated on water, the introduction of water transportation hub provides efficient water taxi, water bus, ferry and private boat connections to the islands of the archipelago. With an operable bridge joining the banks of Aura river at its mouth, Linnanniemi also becomes part of the scenic bicycle route to archipelago.
The flood risk for the low-lying area of the masterplan is tackled by creating a barrier from the sea at the waterfront edge by elevating the whole ground floor level of the buildings or introducing a raised border. The intensified green spaces and landscape pond system of the park helps to absorb excess rainwater. While the central Harbour City water axis acts as a continuous open gutter and water storage system.