Nyhavna, as inner vacant space of the urbanized area of Trondheim, constitutes a precious resource to counter suburban sprawl. Hence the project intends to fulfill the maximum capacity of 10000 inhabitants and 10000 work places. Strandveikaia accounts for approximately 10% of it. A limit is defined along the edges of the site in order to preserve the enclosed land and its activities. This architectural device is not conceived as a static frame: it is a porous public colonnade acting as a dynamic infrastructure for both current urban life and future development.

The latter has been prearranged by a division in parcels both on top, for dwellings and offices, and below, for commercial space strategically positioned along a covered continuous boulevard which fosters the stroll of a high number of consumers. The open space within the rim is planted as a forest. Besides promoting house purchase, the urban forest is a profoundly innovative type of urban centrality, and one with a great evocative power.

The heritage buildings ‐ refurbished according to a specific climatic strategy – keep on hosting the local cultural activities, although their informal organisation is reassessed into joined configurations combining public, entrepreneurial and low budget actors. The urban configuration proposed adapts in a peculiar way to the progressive growth of Nyhavna. Strandveikaia is conceived as a centrality that remains a stable reference point for the whole area: while the built volume on top of the colonnade progressively increases in time, the quantity of open space is kept constant and its quality preserved.