Hjertelia - Europan 16

Hønefoss is a town on the cusp of radical transformation. To expand on the town’s rapidly changing identity, the task is to develop a new pilot neighbourhood which embraces sustainability in its broadest sense. The project site Hjertelia sits on farmland close to the town centre and the goal is to build an inclusive community through new housing typologies and architecture that enhances the productive capacity of the landscape. 

Degradation of natural and agricultural land into low density suburban housing is a pressing concern all over the country. As a reaction, the ambition in Hjertelia is to develop the lot as a sustainable alternative to the typology of detached homes that dominates the Norwegian landscape. The development must be planned around mobility solutions for pedestrians and cyclists.

Through Europan, Ringerike municipality wants to investigate how Hjertelia can become an experimental pilot neighbourhood based on urban farming and social forms of living that underpins belonging in a town undergoing large scale changes. The ambitious goal is to show the way for further development within the study area, and more so, contribute with new examples to a common library of housing typologies for the future.

When the new railway arrives in Hønefoss, the shorter journey time to Oslo will change everything. Suddenly the town will be integrated with the Oslo region and serve as a suburb to the fast-growing capital. Expecting to see explosive growth, Hønefoss has the potential to absorb extensive development in the town centre. The population of the municipality is forecast to increase from 30,000 to 40,000 by 2030. Most of the growth will take place in the centre of Hønefoss. The goal is to accommodate 7,000 new residents in and around the town centre, the downtown area which is currently home to just over 1,000 people. Growth on this scale will result in major changes for a municipality which is heavily car-dependent and where most people live in detached houses away from the town centre. The town's mobility infrastructure will have to undergo a major transformation, and all growth must be based around public transport, cycling and walking.

Yet urbanisation involves bigger challenges than mobility planning. The rural and agriculturally based community will aspire to grow quickly with a new kind of educated and urban population. The identity of Hønefosswill be challenged. Many people are asking whether anyone would want to move to Hønefoss to live in a flat at all, considering how the district is better known for its agriculture and beautiful ravines than for its trendy cafés. What we do know is that an urban identity in Hønefoss will be different from urban identities in large cities. As it takes on population growth, climate change and technological advances in agriculture, Ringerike will have to build denser. How can a new kind of urban identity be expressed in a peripheral agricultural district such as Ringerike?

The development of Hjertelia has been controversial because the area consists of farmland and forest. Development of such suburban woodland and agricultural plots is common on the fringes of many small Norwegian towns and a major challenge globally. Yet the zoning plan for Hjertelia and the adjacent areas has been approved by the politicians, and parts of the area are already under construction. The local authority wishes to use its property in Hjertelia to develop an ambitious example of sensitive and site-specific architecture and outside space which helps intensify the ecology and productive properties of the landscape.

Design an experimental pilot project with housing and mixed programs that injects new impulses and ideas into the community and can help put Hønefoss on the map. Demonstrate how innovative typologies with buildings and infrastructure can be integrated in a sustainable landscape that converts the productive properties of the landscape into new forms. Demonstrate how the local municipality, as a landowner, can create a social architecture where residents can experience a sense of community and well-being through activities, sharing and good meeting places. The project must be attractive to a diverse group of residents, and particular attention should be paid to including disadvantaged groups. Participants are encouraged to explore how these two considerations can together create a sustainable form of urbanisation of the landscape. 

The participants should use the project site to design a pilot project that embraces sustainability in the broadest sense of the word. We are looking for proposals with an integrated infrastructure that protects soil conditions, includes organic life cycles and establishes social dynamics that generate solidarity between human and non-human residents in the area. We are seeking proposals for programmes that can facilitate new forms of productive use of the agricultural land and synergies between different forms of housing, commerce and other activities. 

Within the study area, the participants should indicate how the ideas behind their pilot project on the municipal plot can deliver a blueprint for the development of the area as a whole. They should also explore how the links to the centre of Hønefoss can help build a neighbourhood that is primarily based around pedestrian mobility, cycling and, to a lesser extent, car sharing.

Ringerike municipality will award the winning team(s) a commission valued at at least NOK 500 000 in 2022 for developing the concept for a pilot project in Hjertelia and working with the municipality with the aim of bringing the project to fruition. 

Ringerike municipality retains the option to increase the commission's size and scope beyond the initial NOK 500 000 at a later stage.

Hjertelia is an attractive location – a mosaic of natural qualities, topographies and farmland. To best describe the area, we have turned it into a mosaic and described each square separately.

Welcome to Hjertelia – a new neighbourhood that offers a unique opportunity to innovate and think afresh about town development. Europan 16 will show the way by injecting new impulses and ideas to put Hønefoss on the map. We have the will and desire to invest in innovative projects that resonate not only in our region but throughout Norway and beyond. 

We believe that participating in Europan 16 will shatter our preconceptions of what an urban area and the good life can be. We are a small town with a big heart, and Hjertelia should put its people at the centre. We want to ensure quality of life for everyone through diversity. Europan 16 can open this landscape for us and explore new ideas around urbanity and identity.

We need to be idealistic to effect change. Hjertelia should inspire a sense of community to reinforce the bonds between the people and the spaces they share. Traditional relationships are changing, and many people feel they do not belong. We want to create a neighbourhood that supports the residents’ health, well-being and sense of belonging.  

We ask that the seemingly impossible be made possible. Europan 16 should push us towards new and exciting architecture, new ideas about outside spaces and ways of living, and inspire new residents to interact and create content and activities in their communal spaces. In Hjertelia, there must be room for diversity. 

We want Hjertelia to be an arena for co-creation. Good, inclusive communities allow people to both give and receive so that no one is left out. The neighbourhood should encourage the residents to hold out a hand and accept their shared responsibility for creating a welcoming environment where people of all ages can live the good life together. Participation helps develop safe social networks that will boost the social capital of everyone in Hjertelia.

We are looking to work with bold, innovative and young planners, landscape architects and architects who have their finger on the pulse and want to see a social shift towards sustainability while simultaneously preserving the “soul” of Hønefoss.

Welcome to all of you who want to help us create some everyday magic in Hjertelia!

Kind regards,

Kirsten Orebråten

Mayor

Explore Hjertelia further by downloading the site brief here:

Register for Europan 16 and access the complete site folder with maps and images so you can start making your designs at the Europan Europe website: