The Aarhus City Council has recently approved the Environmental Impact Assessment, and the project will move on to a public hearing phase. CF Moller Architects won the commission to prepare design and landscape guidelines for the new Aarhus area light rail network in October 2008. Moller won the competition for the EIA, where the task is to examine how the rails, pylons and stops will act purely architectural in urban spaces and in the open country.
The EIA report was prepared in 2009 in close collaboration with the client Midttrafik, technical consultants Grontmij-Carl Bro, Niras and Atkins, and the clients’ consultants COWI. The first phase of the new light rail is expected to be operational by 2015.
The guidelines include visual and aesthetic analysis of urban spaces and landscapes along the new line, and proposals for new layouts and terrain adaptations. The report also contains design proposals for tracks, masts, wiring, stations, platforms, urban furnishing and bridges.
The goal has been to uncover the potential for upgrading the urban fabric along the line, meaning that the light rail not only improves traffic patterns and urban sustainability, but also creates better urban spaces and design qualities in the public realm.
