Kiruna Town Hall and Square

Kiruna Stadshus och Torg

Kiruna, Sweden l 2013 l 4 acres l Competition Finalist

Collaboration Ron Henderson, Alex Marchinski; Petra Gipp Arkitektur; Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS Arkitekter

Recognition Honor Award, American Society of Landscape Architects-Rhode Island 

Trees (111) birch trees

Kiruna Town Hall Square is the initial public space to be constructed in the new center of Kiruna (Sweden) - 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle and site of the world's largest underground iron ore mine. Ground subsistence associated with the mine requires that the city relocate almost 2 miles east of its current location. The bell tower from the existing town hall is relocated and surrounded by groves of birches to anchor the new town square.

The act of rebuilding the bell tower consecrates the new Town of Kiruna. A rigorous grid based on the relocated bell tower brings spatial memory to the new site while birches in the square and a shallow recessed triangular grove of birches west of the City Hall provide a rich variety of spaces for people in all seasons.

The triangular grove of birches are planted in a sunken, shallow, undulating topography. In the winter, this grove serves as a snow management area but in the summer, a pair of footbridges traverse a lowered ground fecund with herbaceous subarctic flowers, mosses, and ferns. The footbridge access protects the excavated area from human traffic so it will mature into a lush, verdant grove.