2004 - 2012

Ciboga

2004 - 2012

Ciboga

Ciboga is a large-scale housing project on the edge of Groningen’s inner city, on the former city fortifications. The urban plan comprises eleven virtually closed building blocks, ‘scotches’, set in a public, park-like landscape. An essential element are the semi-public inner gardens, which must mediate between the many dwellings in a high density with little private outdoor space and the green public space that belongs to the city.

Location

Groningen

Client

Gemeente Groningen

Year
2004 - 2012
Surface Area

25 ha

Bureau B+B designed the park landscape around the ‘shards’ and the courtyard garden of Schots Drie, a building by AAS architects and Schots vijf, by HVDN Architects. The public space between the ‘shards’ consists of a car-free residential environment, largely located on a parking lot. The spaces in between are often narrow. The starting point for the layout is to design the outdoor space as a park-like atmosphere as unambiguously as possible and not to create traditional street profiles. Narrow asphalt paths, dusted with pearl gravel, are widened where necessary for the accessibility of emergency services and moving vans. The lighting is suspended between the buildings and keeps the ground level free of obstacles.

The park-like character is enhanced by the use of grass, tree shrubs and bulbs. All plantings have white blooms. White flowering magnolias, shadbush and snowdrops are part of a fairytale transformation throughout the seasons. The grassy surface captures all the height differences with the edges being used as a seating edge and there being as few added loose elements as possible in the narrow spaces.