NORMANNDIA GARDENS
INVITATIONAL INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, 2ND PRIZE, 2008
Project offers a flexible system of town houses with a small own garden and entrance from a residential alley. The reasonable sizes of houses prefer mostly two-storey houses which makes it very challenging to find a solution which is dense enough for the demanded volume but still gives the residents the benefits of ground-bound individual houses.
The block structure is based on economical use of land and giving the maximum private site for each house. There are no big streets inside the area. Residential alleys are 8…9 m wide which makes a pleasant traditonal street space but is wide enough for the mixed traffic. In the middle of the area there is a central pedestrian axis with the public transport stop at the end. At this main pedestrian area there are places for playing and recreation. The central part of the pedestrian axis is totally protected from crossing traffic.
The views from the residential alleys are opening towards the western green area. This is proposed to be developed to a recreation park by a canal built at the existing small natural riverbed.
The northern part of Normanndia is solved with curving variations of the house types which allows to use the awkward form of the site very effectively but makes easily nice street views, too. By the pre-school and kindergarten there is a park with playgrounds, connected to the Canal Park.
Kirsti Sivén, Asko Takala
Team: Eeva Saarelainen, Maiju Suomi, Erno Honkonen, Tatu Pärssinen, Annika Väisänen, Riku Rönkä, Alex Torres, Ilpo Muraja
