Luleå: The iceway

Practice-based research Praktiknära forskning

Team Isspår proposes Luleå Winter Square – a landmark and meeting place on the ice, envisioned as the public square the city has previously lacked.

Conditions: An ice way runs around Luleå’s city centre peninsula, with detours to Bergnäset, Mjölkudden and the island of Gråsjälören on the other side of the strait. The ice way was established in 2003 and is managed by the municipality. Since its establishment, the ice way has been appreciated by many and is today seen as a modern (temporary) cultural heritage. The ice rink – the temporary permanent space?

Challenge: To build on this local gem, which draws thousands of people each year during the winter months, only to melt away under the midnight sun. Despite its popularity, the potential of the ice rink has not been fully realised in winter, and development plans for the surrounding waterfront have mainly focused on the barefoot season. The team will focus on the question: How can we enhance the status of the site and its surroundings as a modern heritage site all year round through design? What models are there to strengthen the management systems and how does it connect to the civil society self-organised networks that are and can be linked to the site?

Survey, analysis and proposal

Team Isspår took as its point of departure the ambition to strengthen the identity of the ice track and to provide Luleå with the public square the city lacks. Through new routes and wind shelters shaped in ice and snow, the team proposed a winter square on the ice – Luleå Winter Square. A landmark on the ice, with sculptural snow formations that provide shelter from the wind and create spaces where people can gather, rest and socialise. The form of the snow structures would be able to change over time, shaped by precipitation, wind, temperature and use.

The team also proposed integrating culture and art into the ice track through snow and ice installations. To foster participation and a sense of community, the proposal included a creative process involving artists, schools and local residents. During the winter of 2024/2025, the team aimed to implement a series of prototypes to test the feasibility of the winter square: testing the long-term impact of distributed loads on the ice, creating spatial formations with snow structures, lighting ice blocks, and introducing a new route across the ice. A key aspect of the proposal was also to explore new ways of using knowledge and resources within municipal departments and across administrative boundaries.

The long-term goal of the team’s work was to further define the ice track as an expanded urban space during winter and to strengthen its role as part of the city’s identity, where nature, people and culture come together in new ways.

The team’s work and proposals for the development of the ice track were summarised in a report. Read it below.

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