The square near Hlemmur in Reykjavík is undergoing a major redevelopment. The project, worth over two billion ISK, is expected to be completed next year and will transform the appearance of this part of the city.
The new Hlemmtorg square is set to be ready next year. As emphasised by the chair of Reykjavík’s Environment and Planning Council, it’s difficult to speed up the work because many old utility lines under the streets need to be replaced. The total cost of the project will exceed two billion ISK.
Hlemmur has long served as a meeting point and one of the city’s urban hubs. It is now undergoing another transformation – the square is being expanded.
Construction work at Hlemmur began back in 2022 and has continued intermittently since. The current phase started this April.
No more cars
The new square will extend to the buildings on Þverholt Street, alongside Center Hotels, and will be bordered to the north by Hverfisgata Street. It will feature bike paths, a children’s playground, and a stage.
“Hlemmur is becoming Hlemmtorg. The cars are already gone, so the biggest change has happened. Now we are finishing work related, for example, to preserving the history of this area,” says Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir, chair of the Environment and Planning Council in Reykjavík.
The major changes in the square will be completed this year and next. After that, the development of the surrounding areas will continue.
Originally, all work was supposed to be finished by the end of this year, but – as Dóra Björt notes – it’s now clear that work on Þverholt and Rauðarárstígur, south of Laugavegur, won’t be completed this year.
Has this taken too long?
One could ask whether it should have gone faster. But this was a large-scale operation because it involved extensive utility work. It’s simply hard to speed that up significantly.
The oldest pipes under Hlemmur dated back to the 1920s and were in urgent need of replacement.
“We always want things to move as fast as possible,” says Dóra Björt.
I know this has affected local business owners. Living through construction can obviously be difficult, so timing is always something to consider. But those running businesses here will benefit greatly – the square will be much better suited to their needs once it’s done.
Source: Ruv.is
