Brákarey Wellness

Abstract: Our decisions from the past affect the present time. The same is true of the decisions we make today. How do we want to see our local environment in the future? In the western part of Iceland there is an island called Brákarey. Brákarey is connected via bridge to the town of Borgarnes. Brákarey has played a variety of roles over the past years, but transport of people and goods was one of its biggest roles. Iceland is a sparsely populated country with about 368.000 inhabitants on an island that covers 101.000 km2 which is about 140% larger than Denmark with its 5.8 million inhabitants. Transport has therefore been an important part of Iceland’s history and Brákarey played exactly one of these key roles by connecting the Capital, Reykjavík, to the western and northern parts of the country. At that time, ships docked at the harbor in Brákarey until a road was laid from Reykjavík which then took over the main role in terms of transport of people and goods. Brákarey has in the recent years decayed due to lack of maintenance and its future has been a lot in the spotlight. The inhabitant’s feelings towards the island are strong so the history, the materiality and the inhabitant’s connection are the keys to a successful repurpose of the area. The aim of this project is to introduce facilities for current and future activities and users of the island by maintaining the characteristics, historical buildings, the open access, the unobstructed views, the rich outdoor life and the rough materiality. This project and its facilities will focus on wellness for body and soul on a broad scale in spectacular surroundings. Leisure activities such as sea swimming, dock fishing, canoe sailing, jogging and hiking are already practiced on site and will be united in these new surroundings. The harbor of Brákarey will be the main area to be discussed, but a strategic plan for the island as a whole will be presented.