OO3709 visiebundel © GRUE, VELD OO3709 visiebundel © GRUE, VELD

Laureate: GRUE, VELD

The study and design assignment for the development strategy for the realisation of an administrative centre in Heist-op-den-Berg was awarded to the joint venture GRUE and VELD.

The contract concerns the 'OCMW site', located in the Molenstraat - Keverstraat - Vlinderstraat - Oude Liersebaan block, and is the result of an earlier master plan for the centre of Heist-op-den-Berg. After all, the site, like other dynamic centre poles - such as the Culture Centre (with culture square and library), the mountain site and the station area - is located on the backbone of the small-town area, at the central hinge point. Both the station and the centre are within walking or cycling distance. The site is characterised by a number of historically valuable buildings and an empty inner area to be developed.

The proposal by the temporary association GRUE and VELD responds intelligently to the client's request. Instead of presenting a single preferred scenario, the design team chooses to explore the various possibilities with four fully-fledged scenarios. All scenarios start from the open space as the driving force behind the core strengthening strategy. The concepts put forward by the design team are based on a clear and engaging analysis of the landscape. The award committee appreciates the proposal to add a landscape network complementary to the linear, urban and commercial fabric along Bergstraat. The 'backdrop landscape' reappraises the depth of the plots at right angles to the Bergstraat, forms a means of bringing hierarchy to the underlying residential fabric and can also serve as a carrier for a green and blue network of pedestrians and cyclists.

With the four scenarios - each developed with clear and imaginative visualisations - the designers make statements about the site, but also about mobility, the relationship with the surrounding landscape and the other dynamic centre poles of Heist-op-den-Berg. The award committee appreciates the many possibilities of the fourth scenario, which even allows (in a fifth scenario) to add the library to the administrative centre.

The 'scenario-thinking' offers flexibility with regard to further elaboration and room for input from the participation process. The scheme proposed by the design team, in which the four possible scenarios are evaluated in a balanced way, each with advantages and disadvantages, is very suitable as material for discussions and consultation, both internally and during the participation process. The 'backdrop landscape' in all its aspects is recognised as the basis for future design choices. In this way, the design team proposes a method that can also be applied to other sites in the municipality.

Heist-op-den-Berg OO3709

All-inclusive study assignment for the design of a development strategy for the realization of an administrative centre in Heist-op-den-Berg.

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