The Conclusion of the Jury
The jury has evaluated the five entries selected for stage 2 in the Keldur Development Area competition, launched by the City of Reykjavík and Transport for the Capital Area PLC in January 2023.
The conclusion, with one entry selected as a winner and two entries given recognition, is an important milestone on the way towards the development of the Keldur area. The 36 entries submitted in the first stage and the 5 that were developed further in the second stage constitute a thorough exploration of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the site, given the high aspirations. Therefore, the next steps can be taken with some confidence that the winning and recognized entries provide a sound basis and guidance for the development of the area.
It is important to keep in mind that the proposed approaches and the associated imagery will need substantial elaboration and modification in the formal planning and design process before the actual construction can begin. In short, we are merely “at the end of the beginning”.
The objectives stated at the outset, in the competition brief, reflect ambitions that are without precedent in urban development in Iceland. It is reasonable to expect that aspirations, such as towards carbon neutrality and a truly multimodal transport network, will be met with some scepticism when viewed from the current reality of car dependency in a capital area that is quite spread out for its population size. However, during its deliberations, the jury only became more confident that these aspirations can become reality and that the Keldur area can set an important example for new urban quarters.
Evaluation of entries was conducted under full anonymity of the teams behind each entry. The sum of scores given to each of 14 stated objectives determined the ranking of the entries.
As indicated by the total scores, the winning entry provides the overall strongest starting point for the next stages of planning and development of Keldur. In addition, the recognised entries contain interesting and alternative approaches that can contribute to the final outcome, not the least of which is answering the basic question of how to introduce urbanity and community with a variety of building types into a greenfield site with challenging topography, and how to ensure that the natural qualities of the site will enhance the urban environment.