Our design starts with the conviction that increasing urbanisation and climate change are intensifying the urgency to prepare cities for extremes such as heavy rainfall, drought, and heat stress. In Antwerp, long confronted with flooding and heatwaves, we translated this ambition into a pragmatic, research-by-design process to analyse, implement and design climate measures, including flood control, heat mitigation and the restoration of greenery, in line with the city’s District Plans Water and Green (WWG). The result is an integral masterplan that transforms today’s challenges into a promising opportunity to make Antwerp climate-resilient by 2040.

A former railway track, reinterpreted as a green connector for pedestrians and cyclists between the city centre and the green estates of Rhijnauwen and Amelisweerd: Oosterspoorbaan park is a surprising enrichment for the local residents in Utrecht. Once a monolithic barrier that separated different neighbourhoods, the Oosterspoorbaan has now opened to residents, with various attractive places to stay and facilities along its entire length.

Binnenrotte is Rotterdam’s largest public open space. Mainly used as a market space, it consisted of a stretch of hardscape, 800 metres long. With the transformation of Laurenskwartier into a mixed-use zone, new consideration was required to integrate the large Binnenrotte area into the adjacent quarter. We created a design that took the opportunities that the site provided and enriched them to give Binnenrotte the much-required quality of stay throughout the day.

In Bobigny, the landscape has been given a role as a narrator and curator of the history of the place. The complex layered history is depicted in a layered way similarly to what one would find in a memorial park and thus takes the visitor by the hand into the past.

Between 1943 and summer of 1944, around 22.500 men, women and children were deported from the Bobigny station, making this site one of the most important sites of the deportation of French Jews during the second world war. After the war, the site was turned into a steel scrap yard and stayed in use until the mid 2000’s. Paradoxically, the industrial activity is what has protected the site for decades and allowed it to survive major urban transformations and evolutions. The Bobigny station is one of the only deportation places in France that was preserved after the second world war.

In the 20th century Catharijnesingel became Catharijnebaan: an unattractive urban highway dominated by asphalt and concrete. When offered the chance to revert that development, we took the opportunity to push the idea further to its full potential. As the water returned to the historic Canal area, it brought along a new natural park route right into one of the busiest areas in the Netherlands. The result was an urban landscape that was fully connected to the past, the present and the future.

Today, it is hard to imagine, but not long ago the quays of Rotterdam formed an almost forgotten quality. Where activities were concentrated in the inner-city environment, they were often undefined, extinct or used as parking and left over space. In line with our vision of a connected city, these spaces were given a new relationship with the inner city, the design and use were upgraded. The result is a flexible green quay that has a high quality pause during resting points and activities. A quality that has since become a core feature for Rotterdam’s new public spaces.

Marina Park in Cork embodies many facets of the city. It fulfils the long-standing promise of creating a regional park to the east of the city. Like many former industrial cities, Cork has significant decommissioned industrial areas along the river, adjacent to its city centre. Today, these areas present an opportunity for residential development and the redevelopment of public spaces. Marina Park is a key component in Cork’s ambition to develop its docklands industrial area into a lively and integrated neighbourhood for the city.

In the seaside resort of Cadzand-Bad, we integrated the need for coastal reinforcement, which is a part of the National programme to turn the coast into a super-storm proof zone, by upgrading the public space. In doing so, we realised a high-quality and attractive new élan for the entire village, with a diversity of atmospheres in which ecology and coastal defences are an integral aspect of the design. The renewed Cadzand-Bad is safe and attractive year-round for residents and tourists alike and is recognisably linked to its surroundings. The success of the interventions forms a solid, widely supported basis for the ground rules of future developments.

The new Polytechnique station area is designed first and foremost as a place for people. Sitting between the dense campus core and the district’s natural edge, it supports thousands of daily journeys while offering spaces to pause, meet and connect with nature. By bringing mobility, ecology and everyday uses together, the station public realm becomes a catalyst for sustainable urban living in Paris‑Saclay and sets a benchmark for climate‑resilient transport hubs.

Begbroke Innovation District is an ambitious project to develop the area around Oxford University’s existing Begbroke Science Park into a world-leading innovation district, situated within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Commissioned by Oxford University Development and in collaboration with a team led by Hawkins\Brown, we designed the masterplan for a new innovation district.

Landscape will become a unifying element of the development, combining an urban vibrancy and innovative spirit with the qualities of rural living as the base for a spontaneous communal life with programming for all ages, local food production, outdoor living, health and well-being. The outline masterplan sets the direction for the development of a unique sustainable “21st century Oxfordshire village” that is not only well-embedded into its context, but also provides an exceptional environment to live, work, learn and play.