August 13, 2026 News
At the meeting point of urban life, water, and landscape, the former industrial area of Keerdok is being reshaped into a vibrant and green mixed-use neighbourhood: an appealing and nature-inclusive destination for recreation, culture, living and working.
Commissioned by the City of Mechelen, Cores Development, and the developers’ consortium ION-NEW, we have led the transformation of Keerdok’s public realm, playing a pivotal role in crafting a new identity that supports the city’s growth and future ambitions.
Mechelen, with its rich history, is a city where the echoes of the past resonate throughout the historic inner city. However, by the late 20th century, the area’s charm and identity had been obscured by a series of pragmatic decisions that eroded its character and liveability. An initiative to reintroduce water into the city centre led to a design competition. We were selected as the winner, still a fledgling Dutch design firm at the time. This marked the beginning of a lengthy sequence of collaborations where Mechelen’s aspirations and our expertise complemented each other seamlessly.
Fort 4 is one of seven Brialmont forts built between 1860 and 1864 as part of Belgium’s National Redoubt. Over time, the fort became disconnected from the surrounding urban fabric. Through the redevelopment of the Fortstraat street as part of the park’s edge, we have re-established a vital link between the city centre and this historic site. One of our key challenges was to find a balance between the fort’s tranquil, historical character and its potential as a recreational space, while also protecting its sensitive ecological environment, including habitats for bats and other species.
Ensuring pleasant, inclusive living for all is the central ambition of our vision for Houten 2040. Houten’s DNA — defined by its green character, cycle-friendly mobility network, strong accessibility, and atmosphere of safety and tranquility — continues to guide our approach.
However, an enormous regional housing demand is putting growing pressure on these qualities, with 4,750 new homes to be integrated within Houten’s municipal boundaries by 2040.
Sluis park is a vibrant park at the heart of Leuven’s Vaartkom area. Our design celebrates the Dyle River, transforming it into a prominent and attractive feature of the cityscape. The park offers a unique spatial experience, breaking away from the enclosed character of Leuven’s inner city and providing a refreshing green escape amidst the dense urban environment.
Our project LOOM transforms an existing urban block, located in the heart of the European district in Brussels, into a multilayered green hub for biodiversity, embodying a healthy urban biotope. The reconfiguration of the existing building volume and its associated functions has offered opportunities to develop an extensive green environment, extending from the ground floor to the roof levels and facades. This ensures a high-quality working environment for the building’s users and a diversity of habitats for urban wildlife.
Future-proof design of Assen city centre
Commissioned by the municipality of Assen, we developed a plan for the renewal of the public space for the inner city. In a guiding document, the municipality’s ambitions for an attractive, inclusive, and climate-proof city centre were developed into attractive, elaborate, and smart design principles. For the first five shopping streets, these principles have been translated into concrete design plans that will be implemented in the upcoming years.
The spirit of a vanished historic riverbed is being brought back into the heart of the Brussels Heyvaert district. The neighbourhood has a strong need for high-quality public space to strengthen its social cohesion. As a new green vein, the Kleine Zenne park will connect a series of urban rooms. Here, a unique integral but phased approach has been chosen.
The Jaarbeursplein square in Utrecht was historically the backside of the station, a crossing place, lacking any significant quality of stay. Located on the west side of the central station, it served as a passage between the station and the Jaarbeurs Exhibition & Convention Centre. However, with the implementation of the master plan for the station area, CU2030, Jaarbeursplein square was upgraded to a new role: to become the largest city square in Utrecht, serving as a dynamic meeting place for travellers, shoppers, residents and workers alike.
A square in constant transition
As the most prominent open space along the station area, it constantly changed in the 20th century according to the needs of the area, from bus station to bicycle parking. These adjustments, in which space was constantly taken away, resulted in a messy square without coherence or clarity. The challenge was to create a welcoming entrance to the new urban development at the westside of the station, preserving flexibility, though also an inviting place to stay.
A place for events and quality of stay
As the station area is in constant flux, with ongoing construction projects over decades, it was important that the square itself provides a constant and resting point in the public realm. This extra challenge, ensuring that after the completion of the square it would allow major changes in the buildings on several sides, required strategic solutions. Furthermore, the square connects to other open spaces such as the entrance and former parking lot of the Jaarbeurs and the busy Graadt van Roggeweg. Bringing that the quality of public space at all stages of the development to the square would function as a catalyst for the development of the wider area.
Design
On and around the new Jaarbeursplein square everything is extra-large (XL). This can even be applied to the use of the square: it too is XL. The design of the square was orchestrating for various situations. The square accommodates for large flows of pedestrians, cyclists, and major events in the city. It is an event square, though at the same time, the place also had to acquire residential quality as an anchor point for the upgrade of the entire western station area. We envisioned a concept that aims to achieve a welcoming human scale within this XL environment, creating a lively and socially safe square.
Green structure
Flows
Typology
Access points
The square is designed with a set of long, low steps that connect and define the space, providing a pleasant place out of the wind and in the sun. These steps also serve to separate pedestrians and cyclists, creating a clear division between paved and green areas, and spaces for transitions and places to stay.
The square will have a robust assortment of trees planted, with a variety of species creating variety through the seasons. The trees give both a sense of scale and of diversity throughout the seasons, as well as provide a vertical accent that further integrates the square with the surrounding high-rise. Additionally, they connect the square atmosphere to the experience of Croeselaan and the city canals, both with a similar focus on trees.
Flexibility
The combination of flexibility, sustainability and appearance make it an attractive square for events. It is now the second area we designed to serve as the starting point for the Tour de France. Various new construction projects are currently being realised on the Jaarbeurs side, strengthening the position of the square as the heart and entrance of the renovated city district. Additionally, the area on the north side, where a parking garage used to be, will soon be redeveloped.
