1 Big Round Pond Park

Reading the project

The areas to be landscaped were old barren fields where only grass could grow. Therefore, for planting trees two basic things were needed: earth and water. The soil came on trucks, and the irrigation system was based on collecting the nearby runoff rainwater and storing it in a huge circular pond at the centre of the park. This new infrastructure quickly became the place to meet and stay, and not only for human beings, but also for aquatic insects, birds and frogs.

The planted trees were all deciduous (Betula and Populus, like the ones existing by all the streams that cross the valley), and their layout was related to the impressive distant views of the site and the characteristics of their specific location. In the central areas of the park the trees were planted in groups of different densities, with the densest group by the road, to soften its cut through the plot. At the end of the three corridors, very tall lines of Populus Nigra "Italica" frame the views of the remote blue mountain hills.

Project facts

Dates

2001 – 2003

Client

Sant Serni Polígon del Pla owners community; Prats de Cerdanya S.A.

Gross area

118.180 m²

Budget

243.230 €

Contractor

Flotats S.A.; Jiconsa

Coauthors

Mónica Company; Aina Plaza; Jesús Cardona

Pictures

José Hevia

Collaborators

Giovanni Bautista

Case-study note: the facts, photographs and credits on this page come from the project's own records.