Degnejorden / 2016

I have taken part of an open competition to design a new residential neighborhood at Degnejorden in the Danish city of Lejre. The project creates a dense area where the housing units are located close to each other to leave as much open and unbuilt land to the community and the city for shared use. It also creates an area with a high level of traffic safety with cars parked outside the narrow streets.

In total the area is planned for 100 housing units in different sizes and in one to two stories. This makes it possible to attract different kinds of residents, young and old as well as singles and families. The social diversity is important to create a neighborhood where it is interesting to live your life. The pathways in between the houses are narrow and with changing spatial qualities. The intention is to make it easy to get to talk with each other and to create new friendships and perspective of life.

All the internal pathways are connected to each other and to the nature towards south and west where it is linked to a larger green area that runs throughout the city. The traffic plan is very simple with one access road from east and one parking lot for everyone at the northern part of the site. From there everyone will have to walk to their home, but the outcome is a safe area away from car traffic and where you will meet other people on the way. At Degnejorden you will get to know your neighbors, and you will live with a close connection to the nature.