The industrial and working-class history of the Buran neighborhood has inspired the design of the park. The color use, play structures, and art expressions are intended to give a somewhat rough and industrial feel. The areas are filled with creative design, unexpected, colorful, and playful elements—beautifully framed by lush, green, and flowering vegetation. Preserving the surrounding tree rows was a key to grounding the project to the site, while also strengthening the spatial experience of the park.
Rockets, old factory chimneys with wild grasses, giant tin can shaped sculptures that you can crawl through, and children of all ages playing games, doing sports and having fun emerge as we stroll through the park, passing berry bushes and fruit trees. Buran is an old working-class district that has become one of Trondheim’s most urban and diverse neighborhoods. The project was selected as a model project in Circular Economy in Landscape Architecture, published by the NLA (Norwegian Landscape Architects Association) in 2023, and was nominated for the Trondheim Municipality Building Style Award in 2024.
Achieving a good mix of functions was very important designing the park. By creating opportunities for both children and adults to play near each other, and even together, the park thrives with life and energy. The park is designed so that the different activity areas are in contact and overlap with each other. Then spontaneous encounters occur and different types of activity and movementa are taking place in the same landscape space. We want to create an experience of everything happening in the park, and making all visitors feel included, even just observing the activities from a distance. Several seating areas are placed around the activity spaces, to include a wider range of users and facilitating longer stays in the activity park.
Another key focus was to make the park safer and more accessible. The terrain has been gently sloped to improve visibility, and the large existing trees have been complemented by a low wildflower meadow. Lighting was also an essential element, improving safety, functionality, and creating an atmospheric experience.
Agraff collaborated with ReMida, Center for Creative Reuse, to design a unique imaginative playground using reclaimed elements and materials. One of the unexpected elements is “The Matchless Manik”, a fabulous factory machine built from various reclaimed parts. Here, you’ll find the black Space Cowboy, the flashy Baroness, the Rocket, and the Green Engineer. These figures were assembled from different elements that were collected, experimented with and then processed to meet the requirements of playground regulations and painted in bright colors.
“The Matchless Manik” and the other quirky elements in the park make circular thinking become a tool for storytelling. What could be more fitting than an old factory chimney as a play structure in a historic industrial area? Circular thinking was also a central theme in the planning and design of Buranbanen Activity Park, reflecting a high environmental ambition. The majority of the furniture and many materials are reused. Most of the vegetation and trees on the site were preserved, and materials were replaced in an environmentally sensitive way. New elements are robust and of high quality to allow for future reuse, and equipment and materials that could not be reused were cataloged and sent to Trondheim Municipality’s reuse depot.
Thus, circular thinking became part of a narrative that roots Buranbanen Activity Park both in time and place, strengthening the park’s identity and the residents’ pride in their neighborhood.
Landscape Architecture: Agraff Arkitektur
Other designers involved in the design of landscape: ReMida, creative recycling center
Year completed: 2023
Photo credits: Glen Musk
