The municipality of Diemen awarded the tender for a development in Parkbuurt, Holland Park, Diemen (Holland Park West) to the combined team Xplore, consisting of Dura Vermeer, Bouwfonds Property Development (BPD) and Mecanoo. Today the agreement was signed by Lex Scholten, Alderman for Spatial Development, Jeroen Klaassen, Alderman for Education, Harm Jansen, Director North-West Region at BPD and Marijke Nas, Director of Dura Real Estate Development.
Xplore
Holland Park West will be a new residential area within the Holland Park neighbourhood. The plan, called Xplore, consists of 706 homes. Of these, 212 social rental homes and 170 medium-priced rental homes will be realised. The plan also takes into account 1,500 m2 of facilities and a community school. This school will provide space for around 700 primary school pupils, a daycare center and a playgroup.
Re-use of wood, car-free and a place to discover
Xplore is designed in such a way that there is as much interaction as possible between residents of all generations and ages - whether at school, within the green spaces or between buildings. This scheme also ensures the development of a completely car-free vision, which includes four green residential courtyards which provide intimacy and security. The facilities and school are positioned in strategic locations to bring liveliness to the green heart of the neighbourhood. The entire development has also been designed with plenty of attention to biodiversity and circularity. All felled wood is re-used and biodiversity of the area enhanced. The landscape is green and climate adaptive while the buildings are designed to be energy neutral.
Lex Scholten, Alderman for Spatial Development: "In this tender, we challenged market parties to make one coherent plan for 600 to 700 homes, a community school and public space. At least 30% of the homes must be social rental housing and 20% medium-priced rental accommodation. Excellent proposals emerged. We want to develop a beautiful living environment in the area of Holland Park West: sustainable and attractive with places where different groups can meet, a neighbourhood with a characteristic design where there are places for meeting, play, movement and relaxation. This means a lot of focus on families with children, realizing a varied housing supply in different phases and more space for greenery with a focus on sustainability. XPlore presented a plan where all these elements come together the best."
Jeroen Klaasse, alderman for Education: "The Community School is nicely integrated into the overall design of the new residential area. With the development of Holland Park West, an important step is being taken in the further growth of the municipality of Diemen. In the coming years, Diemen will grow from 30,000 to around 35,000 residents, including required facilities. This is a great step in that development. "
School and first phase homes to be in use by 2022
The procedure to define the zoning plan will start before the end of 2019, so that the school and first phase housing can be occupied as early as 2022. The built delivery of the final home is planned for 2025. The Xplore plan is part of the larger Holland Park area development, the former Berwijkpark-Noord business park, where a total of more than 5,000 homes are being realized.
Jury assessment
The plan received the highest rating from the jury for spatial quality, consisting of urban design, landscape and architecture. With a very high score for the design of the school and for sustainability ambitions, it is clear that the future of young people is considered very important.
Team Xplore
The Xplore plan is a collaboration between BPD, Dura Vermeer and Mecanoo. The social rental homes are purchased by Woningstichting Rochdale, with the medium-priced rental properties included in the plan will be purchased by BPD Woningfonds. The collective team that contributed to the plan: Mecanoo Architects, BOOM Landscape, Merosch, Buro Bouwfysica, De Dakdokters, Pieters Bouwtechniek, De Stock, Plomp, Upcycle Talent Factory and ZieglerGautier.
More information about the project can be found here.
Images made by Plomp.