Grønningen-Bispeparken Climate Park / SLA

Danish nature-based design studio SLA has transformed the 20,000 m2 outdoor areas of Grønningen-Bispeparken – a 1950s social housing estate. The task was to transform the housing estate's public spaces from derelict, unsafe, and barren grass lawns into a new climate park that would secure the area against thunderstorms and flooding while also adding social, biological, and cultural values to the neighborhood. To address these challenges, SLA designed Grønningen-Bispeparken to be Copenhagen's most radical nature-based climate adaptation project to date. By letting the form of the park follow nature, SLA created an interconnected series of 18 bioswales throughout the sloping park that can collect, contain, and infiltrate more than 3,000 m3 of rainwater falling in the park and the adjacent courtyards and streets.