We are proud to announce that the reconstruction of Catharijnesingel for which we have made the design has won this year’s award. The International Jury considers the reconstruction of the canal, together with the recovery of a linear park running along its banks, a model intervention for the survival of our cities in the new Climate Era.

For Catharijnesingel we combined the historic atmosphere of the canal and park surrounding the historic city of Utrecht with a forward-thinking vision for the city of Utrecht, boosting the mobility transition and social and ecological inclusivity as well.

We are grateful for this recognition and are proud to create places that transform and bring new meaning to our cities.

During the annual presentation of the Arc Awards, organised by magazine ‘De Architect’, Little Zennepark was declared winner in the Urban Planning category.

According to the jury, the winner ‘Het Kleine Zennepark’ in Brussels, by OKRA and Brut, searches to achieve a transformation of a city district in Brussels. The surgical approach to design results in a promenade that adds air and space in a densely built-up area. For example, the plan should address the social cohesion of the area by offering different species meeting places, including schools and cultural centres.

In addition to Kleine Zennepark, De Tuunen Texel by FARO and Landscape Architects for SALE as well as Winkelsteeg by PosadMaxwan were nominated for the prize from a long list of approximately 20 projects.

We’re excited to share that IFLA AAPME International Awards officially announced that OKRA, together with MLA+ and Shenzhen IBR, has won the Outstanding Award in the category Analysis & Masterplanning for our landscape and urban design project in the coastal area of Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone in Shenzhen, China.

In this category, a total of 12 projects excelled in promoting climate change adaptation, responsible practice, and the pursuit of joint efforts to address issues of resilience building. There were 280 international entries.

Our winning entry is the project Nature as Leverage to Lead Coastal Urban Development in Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone. We established a design framework for mountain, sea, and land-development that respects the Chinese historical water strategy while combining it with the modern Dutch approach. The result is a future-proof coastal defence that integrates engineering and landscape design providing a vibrant sequence of protected spaces along this beautiful 12 kilometres long coast.

Our seawater and freshwater strategies make space for buffer areas that put protection and ecology first, restoring existing ecosystems and shaping a ‘sponge’ development that boosts the quality and resiliency of nature and urban spaces: an elastic landscape!

The jury praises the project for its ‘highly detailed consideration of climate resilience concepts that recognise the complex conditions of the site and in response, strives to mitigate, integrate and adapt to the landscape through its design framework’.

OKRA has once again won an international award for its landscape and urban design project for the coastal area of Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone in Shenzhen, China. This masterplan, made in cooperation with MLA+ and Shenzhen IBR, has been awarded the Grand Award by the Greater Bay Area Urban Design Awards 2020 in the category Plan/Concept.

This award is initiated by the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design with the support of member institutes from the Greater Bay Area Urban Designer Alliance. It is sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Our winning entry is the project Nature as Leverage to Lead Coastal Urban Development in Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone. We established a design framework for mountain, sea, and land-development that respects the Chinese historical water strategy while combining it with the modern Dutch approach. The result is a future-proof coastal defence that integrates engineering and landscape design providing a vibrant sequence of protected spaces along this beautiful 12-kilometres long coast.

Our seawater and freshwater strategies make space for buffer areas that put protection and ecology first, restoring existing ecosystems and shaping a ‘sponge’ development that boosts the quality and resiliency of nature and urban spaces: an elastic landscape!

With this project OKRA has previously won the IFLA Outstanding Award in the category ‘Analysis & Master planning’.

OKRA has won the Water Resilient Cities Award 2019 for ‘The best sustainable drainage system for rainwater in an urban environment’. The award was presented by WRC project leader John Green in Peterborough to Rani Izhar of OKRA during the network meeting of the Interreg project Water Resilient Cities.

OKRA received the prize for the redesign of the city centre of Nijverdal. OKRA was commissioned to transform the city centre into an attractive and lively place that is friendly and welcoming with sufficient space for pedestrians. Sustainable technical solutions for water management, water collection and drainage make the area climate adaptive, resistant to recent climate developments with periods of extreme precipitation and periods of severe drought and heat in summer. Rainwater is stored under the pavement to provide the trees with sufficient water and to feed a water playground with fountains. The design came about in close cooperation with residents and entrepreneurs, the municipality of Hellendoorn and Dusseldorp Groep.

The Binnenrotte in Rotterdam was voted best public space in the Netherlands during the National Congress on Public Space in Breda.The Binnenrotte in Rotterdam scored best on use, space, uniqueness and health, making it the best public space in the Netherlands.

Binnenrotte Rotterdam changed from an empty square into pleasant urban space, where there is a market on some days and a nice place to stay on others. The layout of the square with trees has created intimate spots, with careful attention to, among other things, the incidence of sunlight, a lot of attention to greenery and the use of warm materials. The unusual thing is that the square was built on top of the roof of a train tunnel, where many trees have nevertheless been given a place. The design on a higher scale also gave a lot of thought to routes and connections in the city.

International Parking Institute (IPI) has awarded the underground parking garage Kustwerk Katwijk, the top prize in the category for Architectural Achievement at the 2017 Awards of Excellence competition in New Orleans.

The awards ceremony took place in New Orleans on 24 May. Every year since 1982, the IPI Awards of Excellence competition has recognised world-class examples of parking design and programme innovation.

The 2016 BNA Best Building of the Year award went to Katwijk aan Zee’s underground parking garage, which also won the popular vote. This innovative project was regarded as not just an architectural marvel but also sets a precedent for future coastal development. It was a two-year undertaking that seamlessly blends with the dune landscape, expanding the existing dunes.

The underground garage’s integration with the landscape expertly connects the town to the sea. It increases parking capacity while preserving the iconic boulevard. The jury commended the project’s inspirational qualities, collaborative efforts, meticulous design, and near-flawless execution. It was selected as the winner among eight nominees, and the public agreed, with approximately 5,300 votes cast.

Kustwerk Katwijk was honored with the 2015 Rijnland Architecture Prize. This project received both the jury and public awards.

The Rijnland Architecture Prize, presented every two years, was awarded to the winners on Tuesday at the Gebr. de Nobel music venue in Leiden. The jury describes it as a “surprising structure that doesn’t seem like a building but is more of a hybrid between the landscape, a parking facility, and a clever defense system against water. This project successfully combines different typical challenges in a Dutch coastal town into a cohesive solution.”

“The project is praised for its comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach at various scales and levels of execution. Engineering, urban planning, landscape design, public domain layout, and the community’s well-being all work in harmony.”

“A new world has been created between the town and the beach. It’s a remarkable piece of Dutch engineering that deserves emulation. The fact that this design has won both the jury and public awards signifies that Kustwerk Katwijk is considered a ‘pearl’ in the region,” noted the jury.