Before Fryslân was reclaimed, seawater deposited sand and clay particles freely in the landscape. The land was gradually raised and became habitable. A landscape of fertile clay soils emerged. People on the higher sandy soils expanded their settlements. At low tide their herds grazed on the clay pastures, at high tide they stood higher up. Eventually, they settled amid these landscape dynamics. They built clay mounds containing their wooden houses. They regularly raised their mounds to protect their settlement site from the water. In NIEUW OUD OOST, we are also changing the topography to create a safe and pleasant living environment, with room for water retention and biodiversity.
There are deposits of heavy clay under the Cambuur sports fields. These hidden grounds will be excavated to create a relief-rich habitat, with watercourses (creeks), banks and micro relief, with a nod to how it used to look. The fifty homes of NIEUW OUD OOST will again be placed higher up in this new landscape.
The appearance of NIEUW OUD OOST is shaped by excavation and raising, creating different conditions and aesthetics. A walking path runs through the landscape, stringing together all the settlements like beads on a chain into varied detours for all who live nearby. The landscape is designed in part based on the requirements of the target animals: the hedgehog, dwarf and bi-colored bat, house sparrow and brown frog. The homes can be thought of as “rocks” in the landscape and suitable as settlement sites for bats, birds and insects.
Team: DS landscape architects, Homes Factory, M3H Architects, Oskam, Strotec, Studio Anna Zań
> collegevanrijksadviseurs website: Nieuw Oud Oost