Selux

Backa’s new urban con­cept com­bi­nes modern houses with exis­ting buil­dings erec­ted in Sweden during the Mil­lion Pro­gramme era of the 1960s. The draft for Selmas Park by the lands­cape archi­tects’ bureau ÅWL Arki­tek­ter focus­sed on social sustai­na­bi­lity and inte­gra­tion. The goal was to create a park lands­cape with a strong iden­tity, in which citi­zens can con­nect with one ano­ther.

It is Backa’s his­tory as a garden suburb, which inspi­res the new Selmas Park. In the 19^th cen­tury, a series of far­my­ards arose here and Backa became the garden of Gothenburg’s local eco­nomy, sup­ply­ing resi­dents with fruit, vege­ta­bles and flo­wers. But what about the safety con­cept for a new green­space desig­ned for recre­a­ti­o­nal use? ​“The chal­lenge was to pro­vide small, inti­mate places where the various users can inter­act wit­hout this resul­ting in an unsafe envi­ron­ment,” explains Lands­cape Archi­tect Maja Fors­berg, who was res­pon­si­ble for the pro­ject at ÅWL Archi­tects. Together with light desig­ners from Light Bureau, a ligh­ting con­cept was devel­o­ped that increa­ses the fee­ling of safety and sup­ports the location’s key focus – play and lei­sure acti­vi­ties.

(Felix Ger­lach)

The majo­rity of the park lands­cape is illu­mi­na­ted using white LED light, which ensu­res better recog­ni­tion of colours and hence of faces. Colou­red light pro­vi­des accent ligh­ting for the entrance area and playground. As well as incre­a­sing the attrac­ti­ve­ness of the site, it is desig­ned to encou­rage visi­tors to par­t­ake in acti­vi­ties.

The main path through the park is illu­mi­na­ted using Olivio lumi­nai­res on low poles. The illu­mi­na­ted path­ways indi­cate their course wit­hout cau­sing exces­sive scat­ter light, the­reby pro­vi­ding orien­ta­tion during dark­ness. Areas for lei­sure acti­vi­ties are lit using Olivio lumi­nai­res on higher poles to attain wider and more uni­form illu­mi­na­tion of these spaces while addi­ti­o­nal Olivio gobo spots are on hand to pro­vide artis­tic light pro­jec­ti­ons. Tar­ge­ted light set­tings of trees around the main square cre­a­tes an atmos­p­heric ambience – making for a sustai­na­ble and safe loca­tion brist­ling with life and action.