Program // Place branding & visual communication
Location // Aarhus, Denmark
Year // 2019
Client // PensionDanmark
Area // 40.000 m2
Status // Ongoing
Contact //
Peter Bur Andersen
Project Team //
Espen Lunde Nielsen
,
Laura Kieler
,
Søren Stig Stissing
,
Peter Bur Andersen
Contractor // N/A
The new urban district, Trælasten, is located right next to Aarhus Å, the river which runs through Aarhus.
The former industrial plot, also known as DT-grunden, covers 40.000 m2 and used to house the city’s lumberyard. Now the area is being transformed into a new sustainable neighbourhood.
Community, livability and sustainability are keywords in the transformation process, and the vision is to create a green, vibrant and appealing go-to place in Aarhus full of life and atmosphere.
Briq is a part of the team behind the transformation – and we are working closely together with PensionDanmark to bring this urban life vision into reality. As a first step in the transformation process, we have created the visual identity for Trælasten.
Moreover, we have been part of formulating the urban development plan and the vision for the project. At BRIQ, our main responsibility is to create an open and inviting urban life in the area. From this ambition, we have created unique identities and programs for the different areas, urban spaces, and extroverted square meters in the ground floor plan.
Our approach is rooted in the history of the site, which is all about production, craftsmanship, resource awareness and a strong connection between town and river.
The vision for the future concepts and retailers in the area is that they relate to these topics.
In our urban life strategy, we have worked with two overall themes – community and sustainability – which connect the past and the future and is a unifying reference for all the activities we develop at the new Trælasten. Also, these themes define the contemporary formats we work with at the site already today.
Temporary activities
BRIQ’s experience is that temporary activities are absolutely crucial to bring a new narrative to life and succeed in creating a vibrant urban area. At Trælasten we work purposefully to ensure that actors and concepts that are involved from an early stage translate into permanent programs when the district is ready. We also promote the actors to think beyond the boundaries of their own lease, ensure co-creation and link to vision and strategy. In our view the coherence and synergies between concepts is crucial to the success of creating a new urban destination such as Trælasten.
We are also designing the sustainable neighborhood house, Åens Hus, which will function as a base for a wide range of community functions.