Slightly secretive, the popular Sjödalsparken is located behind the center of Huddinge, a suburb to Stockholm. For the residents of Huddinge, the park serves as a green living room, integrated in everyday life as a passage on the commute to work, as a gathering point for picnics or just for socializing in weekends. Throughout the year, many activities are organized here. Including celebrations like Walpurgis Night, Huddinge Days, Huddinge Jazz and Blues, midsummer festivities, and fitness events.

LAND has been responsible for the renovation and upgrade of the appreciated Sjödalsparken to prepare it for its role as the main park in Huddinge.

The entire central Huddinge is built on old lakebed, and traces of the landscape that once constituted the site are found in the ground, in the form of heavy clay. Before the exploitation of Huddinge center, the clay was a favorable soil to grow crops in hence there was agriculture activities where Sjödalsparken is located today. Fullerstaån, an open stream of water, used to flow through an open ditch in the farmlands. At some point, in the 1950s, Fullerstaån was culverted, hiding an important link in Huddinge’s extensive water system.

A key part of the ambition in the design of Sjödalsparken is to highlight and utilize the resource of the natural watercourse that was once dug down under the park. LANDs design takes advantage of the park’s structure, focusing mainly on elevating existing qualities and adding new ones where possible. The main approach of the design is to improve and distinguish the park’s two spatial sequences, the landscape park and an existing west-east structure that bears character traits traditionally associated to Swedish folk parks.

In the landscape park, Fullerstaån is made visible by pumping up water and leading it around the space. A system of channels and collection points adds new habitats, recreational value, and a layer of tactility. Above all, a heightened awareness of the water streaming under the park is achieved. The west to east sequence draws inspiration from traditional Swedish folk parks. Including an entrance area, flourishing plantations, a stage, picnic areas, and an orchard.

The project aims to create significant ecological values, especially by using water, but also by adding new meadows, a variety of bushes, shrubs and trees, and taking care of the management of stormwater from Huddinge center. The project has received significant support from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s fund ‘greener cities’.

Project Data

Landscape Architecture: LAND arkitektur

Team LAND arkitektur: Anders Kling, Camilla Doms, Clara Eckersten (in program phase), Emilia Molin & Helena Guiu Cervera..

Client: Huddinge municipality, Camilla Fransson.

Other designers involved in the design of the landscape: Michael Hallbert (lighting), Robert Jönsson & Peter Ridderstolpe (WRS, External W&S), Eva Åberg (project manager) and Greens Anläggning AB (contractor).

Project Location: Huddinge, Sweden

Year: 2018-2020

Construction year: 2020-2021

Photo credits: Drone photos: Björn Bergman, other photos: Ulf Lundin.