Schauman & Nordgren Architects and Mandaworks win Tampere Hiedanranta competition

The city district is situated on the north-west of the city of Tampere. Over the next 20 years the Innovation Bay will house over 25,000 new residents and 10,000 new jobs, as well as the transformation of the former industrial district into an innovation hub for the development of a circular economy and a sustainable future.

Tampere’s Central Region is growing rapidly. Currently home to 370,000 residents the population is expected to reach 480,000 by 2040. In anticipation of the growth, the City of Tampere acquired approximately 250 hectares of land 4.5 km north west of Tampere’s centre – Hiedanranta Bay.

The vision for Hiedanranta Innovation Bay is achieved through a set of urban development strategies that will transform the bay into the western hub of Tampere. The strategies connect Hiedanranta to its surrounding context, outline methods to achieve a carbon neutral development, and create an integrated public space and transportation network.

The vision utilises the surrounding urban structure to create two clear urban grids that organise the proposed block division and reach out to the neighbouring districts. At the meeting of the two grids, the new structure is bound together by an innovation corridor. The corridor is a north-south sequence of public spaces that is connected via a tram line. Along the corridor sits historical buildings, local schools, smart manufacturing facilities and the innovation campus.

The sequence of spaces, transit stations and program generate a rich corridor of institutions, meeting places and cultural hot spots. Crossing the innovation corridor is the recreation corridor. This east west connection links existing commercial areas at Lielahti to the proposed lakefront and canal. The east west connection is defined by a series of water elements: the grand canal, the blue square, harbour and public spaces along the transformed Enqvistinkatu road.

The crossing corridors form the central organising elements of the plan, creating direct pedestrian links between public transport, key district destinations and important public spaces. Complementing the two corridors, a cohesive landscape system weaves together the urban development and natural lake shore. The core landscape structure is composed of a historic waterfront park, a sport and recreation ‘hill’ and a lake delta that blurs and maximises the Lielahti shoreline.

The constructed landscape provides residents and visitors with considerable natural amenity while simultaneously providing an infrastructure to passively handle stormwater and offering large, connected areas for habitat cultivation.In order to move people around the 250 hectare development, the masterplan offers a multi modal transportation network.

Two tram lines intersect the site, and cycle and pedestrian routes and infrastructure is prioritised over the vehicular alternative. The movement network binds together the district and creates easy movement between its neighbourhoods. The 1.8 million m2 of the Hiedanranta Innovation Bay proposal is handled with a flexible and resilient phasing strategy that outlines a clear vision of how to implement the plan over time. Source by Schauman & Nordgren Architects & Mandaworks.