Normaalschool in Lier wins the “Most inspiring city centre project of 2024” in the category of “Building and Activity”! Organised by Platform Binnenstadsmanagement, the award celebrates projects that raise the bar for the development of city centres.

The Normaalschool in Lier, an urban school complex closed in 2012, is now being redeveloped and transformed into a vibrant public inner area with new residential and work forms, with a goal of creating a new learning network.

Would you like to join our team and help us design meaningful places? We frequently have new openings for positions and currently are looking for a Dutch-speaking project leader, as well as experienced designer.

As project leader, you are responsible for both the content and process side of a number of projects. Together with a partner or associate, you determine the goals of the project and ensure that they are achieved. Working with the designers, you take care of the project’s content development and the development of the various products. You monitor the progress of the project and make adjustments where necessary. In terms of content, you not only ensure high (design) quality and alignment with our vision, but you also ensure substantive knowledge development in the projects through (design) research.

Does this description fit your ambition and skillset? Take a look at our vacancy page

We are excited to see another step in realisation of the Marina Park masterplan with the construction of Marina Promenade moving forward in Cork, Ireland!

Supporting Cork’s ambitions for active movement, we are introducing an important slow traffic route along the river Lee. The new car-free shared pathway for pedestrians and bicycles is running through the beautiful double tree-row of mature existing trees.

Marina promenade provides a unique attraction for Cork city and serves to integrate the Marina Park, the Passage Railway Greenway and the new developments of Blackrock Village and Docklands.
Along the promenade, a sequence of balconies, designed as a paving extension of the promenade, are placed in between the bigger plazas, providing space for rest and open views toward the River Lee.

This promenade has existed since mid-18th century, used as a tracking wall to guide ships up the River Lee to Cork Harbour, but later was taken over by car traffic. The new design provides a safe, attractive and enjoyable experience and encourages a flow of people to explore the riverside and the park alongside it.

Previously we already completed the nearby part of Marina Park, and we are looking forward to continuing to work on the rest of the area, creating a new high quality inclusive park for people and nature.

We are happy to share that our entry for the city of Utrecht is winner of the Dutch edition of the European Green Cities Award!
A win made all the more wonderful by the second place for Hengelo, based on our design of the redevelopment of the city centre.

Following our continuous and productive collaboration with both municipalities, greenery and water are returning to the city centres.

In recent decades, Utrecht has made a structural choice to reduce motorised traffic and transform the freed-up space into parks and places for recreation, further improving the quality of life. Our selected projects Catharijnesingel, Oosterspoorbaan Park and Croeselaan embody that development. Catharijnesingel was spotlighted in this respect: here we brought nature into the heart of the city, forming a green link between the old and the new city.

Hengelo has celebrated delivery of the renewed Marktplein, following transformation of several other central streets. The introduction of diverse planting and water management solutions is shaping the public space where people now love to spend time.

We are grateful for this acknowledgement and cannot wait to continue our work on attractive green public spaces that improve slow mobility routes and create resilient structures adapting urban environments to climate change!

The Former Deportation Station Bobigny has been nominated for the 2023 edition of France’s prestigious ‘Équerre d’argent’ architecture prize. The project is one of five selected contenders within the // public spaces and landscape // category.
The memorial has been inaugurated this year, 80 years after the first deportation convoy left the station of Bobigny for the camps.

The award winners will be announced on November 20th in Paris.

On June 18, exactly 80 years after the first convoy departed for Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former station of Bobigny was officially opened. As the sole surviving French deportation station from World War II, it has been transformed into a memorial park over the past years, following the winning design by a team led by OKRA landscape architects in 2016.

A landscape-based approach can help address key spatial and scenic challenges in a densely populated region of Zuid-Holland.
We are proud to share the publication “Mission Knowledge Region by the Sea 2070” , produced in cooperation with Delft University of Technology, Atlas Research and The Global Institute on Innovation Districts.

By using a landscape approach, we are able to identify opportunities to improve the existing situation while incorporating housing, mobility, economy, water, nature and landscape in an integral way. The existing landscape and urban structures help us define opportunities for spatial-economic development and highlight spatial conditions that ensure a productive, socially and ecologically inclusive and future-proof direction for smart growth.

The collaboration aims to develop building blocks that serve as future perspectives; a unifying narrative that encourages long-term cooperation as a basis for sustainable knowledge sharing and resilient change.

View the full report

The refurbishment of the city centre of Hengelo is still underway, but has already won various awards, including the Most Inspiring Inner City Project of the Netherlands.

No less than 18 different municipalities took part in the election organised by Platform Binnenstadsmanagement in recent months. Together with Veenendaal, Hengelo was chosen as the winner. During the Day for the City Centre 2023, Hengelo received the prize for the theme of ‘cooperation’ in its own city.

The jury appreciates the guts the municipality of Hengelo has shown to admit previous mistakes in the development of the city’s layout and to open up the entire process. Everyone, including residents, young people, entrepreneurs and schools, was allowed to help build a new design for the Market Square. The design has been completely adapted to a square full of greenery, trees and meeting places. The city centre of Hengelo succeeded in converting previous negative noises into an active participation process in which everyone could provide their input.

The jury is also very positive about the decisive approach of the municipality in this project. The process of redesigning the Marktplein is a source of inspiration for every city centre in the Netherlands.

De Twaalf Apostelen office area is located right next to the Bunnik railway station. It is an outdated, stony area that is struggling with vacancy while, at the same time, there is a huge need for housing in the greater Utrecht region.

Because of this contrast the development potential is great: The location has strategical strenth as a residential location due to the proximity of the station and the Utrecht Science Park. In addition, it is also located in the middle of the attractive landscapes of the Kromme Rijn, the country estates and the New Dutch Waterline.

In 2021, @OKRA, @SVP and @Cross won a selection to draw up a vision for the station area. For this purpose, the opportunities for the site and the development of the station have been carefully considered. Attention was also paid to the site’s relation to the greater region. Together with residents and @gemeente Bunnik, but also with the collaboration partners @BAM, @Certitudo, @Portaal and @Lekstede as key stakeholders, we went looking for Bunnik’s DNA.

The municipality had clear wishes, including opportunities for housing starters and senior citizens, the addition of high-quality greenery and improving the existing connection of the station with the surrounding area. Based on this, we have developed a vision with ‘ten rules for Bunnik’ in which the ambition for the site is laid down, including:

• Bunnik railway station is to also become the ultimate bicycle station: a new bicycle bridge provides a connection with the landscape and Odijk, but also forms an attractive route to Utrecht Science Park.
• The Twaalf Apostelen is being transformed into an attractive residential area with a central park. The green character makes it a natural extension of Bunnik, with the landscape always close by. Densification and greening therefore go hand in hand with room for climate adaptation and biodiversity.
• This is made possible because the cars will park centrally in a parking facility along the track.
• There is space for companies and offices between the railway and the A12.

In the coming year, this vision will be further developed into an urban development plan.