By Hans Oerlemans (editor); Urban Design Forum WA; 2018; Perth; ISBN 978-0-646-98785-9
Click: Book – Drawing the Line
By Hans Oerlemans
Presented at Urban Design Forum WA, Mon. 27 Feb 2017
Published in: Drawing the Line – Deliberations on Density; Hans Oerlemans (editor); Urban Design Forum WA; 2018; Perth; ISBN 978-0-646-98785-9
Click: Article – Density Done Dutch
By Hans Oerlemans & Tobias Volbert; Urban Design Alliance Queensland; 2014; Brisbane; ISBN 979-0-9924423-1-6
By Hans Oerlemans & Claudia Baldwin (USSC)
Presented at the PIA Queensland State Conference 2013 in Mackay
Published in: Queensland Planner; Summer 2013; Vol.54; No.4
Master plan for reconnecting the city to the river. The river is the origin of the city, but now the city is hidden behind walls and dikes. The river forelands are unkept and under used. The plan turns this part of the city into the multifunctional, multi atmosphere leisurely centre of the wider region.
Data
| Client: | City of Tiel |
| Location: | Tiel, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 215 ha. |
| Year: | 2006 |
| Status: | Ratified |
| Partners: | OKRA landscape architects, SAB urban planners |
The issue
The city of Meppel is extending into a sensitive cultural landscape. A district half the size of the current city will be developed in the next 25 years. The plan needs to be respectful to the landscape, well connected with the city and produce a finished result in every phase.
Our statement
In New-Peat Lands everybody will live at a meadow, creating a district where city and landscape slide into each other.
Our solution
The typical cultivation pattern of the landscape is the base for the urban plan. Instead of the usual complete filling, we introduce an alternative civil engineering method. Thus we can retain all ditches, as base for both the urban water system and the development framework. Build-up parcels are alternated with agricultural meadow zones. Three distinct ribbons further elaborate the framework. Large-scale recreational facilities and a finely meshed network of paths join the city to the new district and the landscape.
Data
| Client: | City of Meppel |
| Location: | Meppel, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 737 ha. |
| Year: | 2003-2005 |
| Status: | Ratified |
| Partners: | OKRA landscape architects, Tauw environmental consultants, Goudappel Coffeng traffic engineers |
More information? Click:
Nieuwveense Landen_Project Documentation
Nieuwveense Landen_Process & Scenario Game
Nieuwveense Landen_Master Plan Summary
or the pdf-icon at the bottom of this page.
The issue
The village is threatened to be submerges by the advancing city. The new extensions need to strengthen the village identity, setting it apart from the city.
Our statement
The village atmosphere is in essence an organically grown, small-scale urban fabric. Visually dominated by green and the surrounding landscape. And mixed use is knitted together with a strong social cohesion.
Our solution
Vistas and routes connect the new neighbourhoods to the landscape and to the village centre. The street profiles are diverse, with a mix of housing types and staggering fronts. Little squares, public gardens and small fields contribute to the informal atmosphere. A centre for the mentally disabled is incorporated and maintains the public gardens. Parking is kept out of view on the brick-paved roads. People, houses and green dominate the image, not cars, although they are functionally fully included. Sustainability aspect like stormwater retention and local energy production are also integrated.
Data
| Client: | Koopmans Projects, with City of Deventer |
| Location: | Schalkhaar, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 17.5 ha. |
| Year: | 2005-2007 |
| Status: | Ratified, Under construction |
| Budget: | € 6.0 million (public space) |
| Partners: | Bentvelsen Fleer Architects & Urban Planners, OKRA landscape architects |
More information? Click:
Schalkhaar_Project Documentation
or the pdf-icon at the bottom of this page.
The issue
The centre of town is deteriorating and loosing costumers. Retrofitting the urban structure needs to enforce its economical competition power.
Our statement
The centre needs to be made livelier: draw, house and keep people. People attract more people and that keeps business running.
Our solution
The strategy focuses on creating more atmospheres to experience, adding people and enhancing physical connections. The centre amenities (shops, events, services) are more clearly zoned around the historical central street. Adding small squares, parks and alleys, places to sit and stray, diversifies network of public spaces. Improving the connections with the surrounding neighbourhoods increases the natural flow of people through the centre. Adding dwellings diversifies the centre and increases the basic volume of public, improving liveliness and the attraction of other people.
Data
| Client: | City of Hoogeveen |
| Location: | Hoogeveen, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 23.1 ha. |
| Year: | 2007-2009 |
| Status: | Ratified |
| Partners: | OKRA landscape architects, attuned with joining centre parts by Soeters Architects and Atelier Dutch Urban Planners. |
More information? Click:
Hoogeveen Centre_Project Documentation
or the pdf-icon at the bottom of this page.
The issue
Typically small-town extensions are small generic city extensions. They are blind to the town’s characteristics, killing its identity. This extension needs to reinforce and repair the town’s spatial quality.
Our statement
To strengthen the town’s character, the parcelling of the landscape has to be the base for the developments structure. Spatial principles derived from the organically grown village have to be the base for the design.
Our solution
The design is based on the long-stretched parcelling of the landscape. Two parallel streets open up the building plots. Trees and protruding alignments give reason to little deviations in the street profile, creating an organically grown appearance and slowing down traffic naturally. Plots for individual owner-builders and small-scale developments are strategically mixed, providing architectural structure. A green zone in the middle creates a communal area and a vista to the landscape. Rules for a changing building line instigate collaboration between the new residents, creating a neighbourhood community already before they start to build and live here.
Data
| Client: | City of Meppel |
| Location: | Nijeveen, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 6.2 ha. |
| Year: | 2003-2009 |
| Status: | Ratified, Constructed |
| Budget: | €1.3 million (public space) |
| Partners: | OKRA landscape architects, DAAD architects, B+O architects, SKA architects |
The issue
The city of Ede is improving and enlarging its town centre. Tail-piece of the operation is the renewal of its 3 main squares: the market square, church square and town hall square.
Our statement
The 3 squares represent the economic, religious and political heart of the city. Their design should not only make them important public meeting places, but also connect the centre to its cultural roots, in history and the landscape.
Our solution
The city evolved out of a village with a strong connection to the landscape. The 3 squares are designed as a sequence of spaces on the natural slope: from stony and urban at the bottom, rising to soft and part of the landscape. Every square is composed around their typical centre program, with its own atmosphere and triggers for community use. The market and town hall square are positioned along the town centres ring-road. They are also made into centre entrances, inviting passers-by to stop and enjoy the centre.
Data
| Client: | City of Ede |
| Location: | Ede, The Netherlands |
| Area: | 2.7 ha. (1.0 / 0.5 / 1.2 ha.) |
| Year: | 2002-2008 |
| Status: | Competition winner, Constructed |
| Budget: | € 5.9 million |
| Partners: | OKRA landscape architects, Auke de Vries (artist) |
More information? Click:
Ede Centre_Project Documentation
or the pdf-icon at the bottom of this page.