2000 - 2009
De Born Campus Wageningen
2000 - 2009
De Born Campus Wageningen
At the start of the design process, the planning area consisted of a number of different institutes that together did not form a unit and hardly had their own image. The challenge for De Born is to create a spatial development strategy in which the various knowledge units (institutes and departments) are given their own identity, while at the same time the area as a whole has a confident image, fitting a centre for education and research.
Location
Wageningen
Client
Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum (WUR)
Year
2000 - 2009
Collaboration
Michael van Gessel
Surface Area
32 ha
All new buildings to be developed will be situated around an open centre. This open middle area is the spatial driver for the area. It gives the terrain its specific character and makes the terrain a unified entity. Special buildings can be situated in the open middle, primarily to accommodate general functions for the entire site. Mansholtlaan runs directly alongside this open area, making De Born recognizable as being situated at the main entrance to Wageningen. Surrounding the open centre is a ring road that provides the main access for all surrounding plots.
The design for the university campus is characterized by its simple layout: the park-like open middle area containing a number of compact tall buildings surrounded by a perimeter of compact lower buildings. Each building in the perimeter stands on its own plot, a garden with its own identity. The gardens can show something of the knowledge unit to which they belong. For example, there are ecological gardens, guest gardens, disease gardens and water gardens. The park-like central area is one grassy landscape containing large ponds for the purpose of water retention and a network of romantic trails running through the ever-transforming grassy surface. Several routes are themed through specific trees planted along the paths.
Several routes are themed through specific trees planted along the paths.
