The Harbour Park, Copenhagen
to come into contact with users. This meant that
it either had to be completely removed, or a new
layer should be added on top. The choice was
between transporting and storing a great amount
of polluted soil – with all the problems associated
with its eventual disposal – or sealing the existing
soil on site and bringing in a much smaller quantity
of a new growing medium, a much more practical
and economical solution. This then was the main
impetus for raising the lawn areas. In the proposal
dated 1993, the suggestion was that the lawns
should be raised by 200–250mm but this height
was later increased to 360mm so that the raised
edges could also function as informal seats. The
decision to raise the lawns also has the benefit
of protecting them from wear and tear caused
by pedestrians and cyclists which had been a big
problem in the provisional park since its creation
in 1984.The decision to raise the lawns meant that careful
consideration had to be given to the edges. In 1993,
the designers suggested ‘a precise and stable edge
made of soft coloured concrete elements, maybe
with a pattern in the surface’. The paths which cut
through the lawns at various angles presented a
challenge to the designers, but the solution was to
modify the standard element and to create a number
of special corner pieces. Each was drawn in detail at
a scale of 1:50. Laying these heavy elements to the1.24
Photo: one of the diagonal paths cutting through
the lawns. Small ramps give access to the grass
for children’s buggies, wheelchairs and mowing
machines.
1.25
Details of the raised lawn edgings, showing the
places where standard elements could not be used