Toflegars Plad

TGPS is situated next to one of Copenhagen’s largest traffic junctions within the urban fabric. It used to have an important relationship with traffic because it was a part of it as a tram and bus station. Nowadays the traffic is its most important opponent.

The program of the plads is tripartite: a building, a big green zone and a big hardened zone. The building blocks the noisiest and most polluting part of the traffic flow and leaves every possibility of connecting TGPS with other areas. Because of its narrow shape the sun will still reach the most important parts of the plads. The building volume rotates itself starting with the triangle at ground level to the same rotated triangle at 24 meters height, creating three facades: one adjacent to the green zone which will completely be covered with green plants absorbing the poisonous car gasses. The other two facades will be large beautiful billboards on a plint of glass, created with thousands of lights in the nighttime and reflecting spots in the daytime. These facades are orientated in the main directions of the crossing traffic to attract the attention TGPS and Valby need. In the building the cultural and youth centre will be housed. The rest of the building will be filled with other cultural program, shops, offices and bars at ground level.

The concept of the new garden consists of two strong elements: a “vegetal carpet” and a circular pond. As the circular waves created from a stone that is thrown in the water or by rain drops in a paddle, sectors of circular shapes are created around the pond with different materials and functions. The carpet embodies the entrance of the house as well as the entrance of the garden from the house. Along with existing valuable elements as the trees and actual morphology of the landscape, this concept creates a strong base for the design of the new landscape of the garden. The new garden will be composed by various intimate and open spaces which create a clear image around the residence in the different seasons, at the same time, they give the entire space a distinct identity using specific tools of landscape and architectural design.

This project was in collaboration with INSIDE OUTSIDE/Petra Blaisse.

By making half of the plads from vegetation al large part of the rainfall, which will increase in the future due to the climatologically changes, will be absorbed by the plants instead of by expensive environmental unfriendly sewerage.

Under the green zone a parking garage is situated entered by car via Valgårdsvej. The street next to the southern building will be maintained and get car parking space on ground level.