Connecting Ørsta

2015

Team point of view
The main concept of the project is to establish clear connections and identities in Ørsta. Today Ørsta consists in many small and unconnected ‘islands’, functioning internally, but not as a whole, inhibiting the city ‘s flow.
In our proposal the city centre consists in 3 main connections:
- The Urban Connection links together the Culture Square, Vikegata, the Market Square, Nekken and the administrative centre at Ørsta City Hall. The connection with the squares, the dense city scale and commercial and cultural facilities gives it a clear urban character.
- The Park Connection runs from Hamneparken all the way to Nekken. The park typology is the structuring element – parking and infrastructure are designed with a green character.
- The Educational Connection runs from Nekken to Ørsta Stadium. Education is the structuring element with playgrounds, institutions, schools, stadiums and community houses. The connection ties the institutions together and provides with the opportunity to meet across ages.
Besides, the Harbour Promenade binds the 3 main connections together and crosswise. We suggest a promenade as an Add-On to the existing quay. A cold and warm seawater swimming pool, inspired by a Japanese Sento, is placed by the Culture Square – a quiet, yet ambitious urban landmark of Ørsta. The Harbour Promenade is the physical link between Ørsta city centre and the sea.

Jury point of view
The project shows a good understanding of the local challenges and the scale of the town. It proposes to create a new spatial hierarchy in Ørsta by establishing three new main connections across the central areas: the urban connection, the park connection and the educational connection. While the urban and the park connection propose structural interventions, the educational connection proposes a new programmatic rearrangement strengthening the relations between the schools, the cultural house and the town centre. The project can become an effective planning tool for the city, both in a short- and long-term perspective.

2016-2017
Following the competition, the municipality asked the winning team to work on a strategic development plan for Ørsta. The competition site has been expanded slightly and in some areas the city asked the team for more detailed development.
From a model produced by the team, work was done on site involving the inhabitants in order to collect as much information as possible on their practices and uses and integrate them into the future development plan.
Parallel to this plan, the team was also asked to work on volume studies for the extension of a school and to design a small park in the city centre.
The development plan was completed in early 2017 and retains the main principles of the competition around the 3 major connections (urban, green and educational) and a densification of the city rather than a spread-out development, the location of central functions, parking and traffic in the city. The team then worked with the city to transform this strategic plan into a regulatory legal plan that will serve as a tool for all future development projects.