True Blue and Hälsostaden finalists in the 2021 WAN Awards

In 2020, we won the competition to design the new waterfront park and new Lungegårdspark in Bergen, Norway. The proposal True Blue will be the city’s new public lounge with a wide range of activities and recreation areas, while providing innovative solutions for environmental and climate adaptation. It has now been shortlisted in the Future Projects – Leisure category in the 2021 WAN Awards.

True Blue is designed to evolve over the next 200 years and is both ecologically and socially sustainable. The project’s point of departure is “life in water – life on land” and the overarching concept of the park is about improving the water quality in the bay. It contains natural systems to purify the water that runs into the bay, as well as sub surface additions to stimulate the marine ecology. These systems are carefully designed to be both functional, attractive and a source of learning for visitors.

– The aim is to create an attractive and inclusive urban space for movement, recreation, and events of various kinds. It will become a new meeting place for Bergen, where the residents will be encouraged to experience the water’s qualities throughout the year, says Niels de Bruin, Lead Architect at White Arkitekter.

Hälsostaden, Building 71, in Ängelholm, Sweden, has been praised twice since the completion in 2018. The project has now been shortlisted in the Healthcare category in the 2021 WAN Awards. It is the first of a series of additions to the hospital area in Ängelholm. It is considered particularly significant by setting the benchmark for future phases, whilst establishing the identity of Hälsostaden (Health City) in the local area. The new healthcare building is inserted between the older building and the Rönne river. The entrance is marked by a pair of large oak trees as eye-catchers.

Key principles for the new building are “generality and flexibility”. The building’s skin and cores allow for future adaptations and the dimensions of the structural framework enables internal plan layouts that can very efficiently incorporate common healthcare unit rooms.

The new healthcare building opens to the surrounding nature and is located next to the promenade by the river. The environments invite both to activity and recovery. The nature is also used in the interior with generous views, warm colors and natural materials such as wood and stone. This forms a friendly and modern environment that the new hospital aspires to embody.