Amstelwijck Park

Suburban
Urban Design

Dordrecht | The Netherlands

A new form of living in nature with 190 homes, characterised by the attention to climate adaptation. The combination of a lush creeks landscape and a characteristic polder landscape creates a car-free nature area where people can enjoy a direct relationship with nature. The park is lower than its surroundings and a fine structure was used. The park is situated between the houses. Children run from their backyard into nature, and the cultural courtyards encourage socialising.

Client:	ABB Bouwgroep
Year:	2018 – until now
Partner:	Maas & Nienhuis civiel adviesbureau
Status:	Under construction
Type:	Urban plan, development plan
Location:	Former Refaja hospital, Dordrecht
Program:	190 dwellings
Urban planning:	ECHO Urban Design
Landscape design:	ECHO Urban Design
Architecture:	Zeinstra Veerbeek Architecten

Healthy living between nature and city

We divided the area into 3 sections by adding a centrally situated park. The density on the west side is the highest, with terraced houses and flats surrounding a parking court. On the east side, the park wedge is lined with ensembles of semi-detached and detached houses. Within these ensembles, we create private courtyards with the fronts facing each other; at the rear, these houses border the landscape; we devoted special attention to the garden walls. Parking is centralised as much as possible at the entrance of each ensemble. The entire central park being a wadi, stands out the most. The fine structure of the greenery between the houses allows all rainwater to naturally flow into the central area where it naturally infiltrates. Much attention was also paid to sun protection by locating 50% of the public area in the shade of the tree crowns.