MeerwijkHaarlem, The Netherlands (2001–2008)

Not every location has a recognizable, his-torically developed identity, which is why Bureau B+B’s region-specific approach has, indeed, never become dogma. The brief for the design for a new city centre area in Meerwijk was to provide the loca-tion with a meaning of its own. Meerwijk is a neighbourhood within the district of Schalk-wijk, which forms part of the Municipality of Haarlem. The location, which had been a green zone cluttered with various types of construction in an area with 1960s’ housing developments and single-family dwellings, was transformed into an island with shops, a school and residential units around a cen-tral square. To reinforce its central role, the island was conceived as a single continu-ous surface encompassing all of its parts, including the playground, parking canopy, bridges and banisters. The bridges, for ex-ample, traverse the water as an extension of the pavement. To emphasize the surface’s

continuity, the design and all its details were developed in a single language. High-strength concrete was employed for the seating elements, parking canopy and slender bridge banisters; a vibrant, warm ochre-grey, slightly glittering natural gneiss was used for the pavement. The space has been kept as spare as possible, and free of obstacles. Cycle racks are integrated in seating elements in the periphery and the lighting is suspended from guy wires between the buildings. From the yearbook Landschapsarchitectuur en stedenbouw in Nederland 2007/2008 (Landscape architec-ture and urban design in the Netherlands, 2007/2008): ‘In the view of the selection committee of this yearbook, deploying the public space as a connection between architectural objects is an ingenious idea. The design was executed in a beautiful and consistent manner.’

Type:Public Space, Infrastructure, Bridge

Designteam:Bureau B+B stedebouw en landschapsarchitectuur

Program:Four bridges, school square and center square

Surface:28.000 m2

Budget:€ 2.000.000,-

Client:Municipality of Haarlem

ring and centre island

plinth of ridged concrete connects the buildings with the square

square made of Gneis hardstone

Not every location has a recognizable, historically developed identity, which is why Bureau B+B’s region-specific approach has, indeed, never become dogma. The brief for the design for a new city centre area in Meerwijk was to provide the location with a meaning of its own. Meerwijk is a neighbourhood within the district of Schalkwijk, which forms part of the Municipality of Haarlem. The location, which had been a green zone cluttered with various types of construction in an area with 1960s’ housing developments and single-family dwellings, was transformed into an island with shops, a school and residential units around a central square. To reinforce its central role, the island was conceived as a

single continuous surface encompassing all of its parts, including the playground, parking canopy, bridges and banisters. The bridges, for example, traverse the water as an extension of the pavement. To emphasize the surface’s continuity, the design and all its details were developed in a single language. High-strength con-crete was employed for the seating elements, parking canopy and slender bridge banisters; a vibrant, warm ochre-grey, slightly glittering natural gneiss was used for the pavement. The space has been kept as spare as possible, and free of obstacles. Cycle racks are integrat-ed in seating elements in the periphery and the lighting is suspended from guy wires between the buildings.