In the plan for Born Oost, a clear division was made between residential and commercial by connecting the residential to the old farms along the Grintweg and the commercial to the Mansholtlaan and the university campus. Inbetween, a green meadow is situated. In this way, the commercial buildings and the meadow form a buffer between the traffic noise and the houses.
The buildings along the Mansholtlaan direct the traffic coming from the A12 into Wageningen. The alignment of the facades at the location of the ‘green’ of the university is the same as the new build of the NIOO and jumps forward at the cross section. This way, the buildings create a gateway towards the centre of Wageningen an the ‘green’ on the east side is closed off.
On the backside, the buildings are located along the meadow which serves as a transition area towards the houses. In the meadow, some villa-like commercial buildings are located. The houses are located behind the plots along the Grintweg and form an enclosed rural residential atmosphere. To connect with the scale of the authentic rural character of the strip-like development along the Grintweg, de houses are clustered in gardens enclosed by hedges. Inside the gardens, the houses are situated around a collective farmyard in the middle with private gardens around it. The ecological structure is part of the plan. The houses are situated at some distance. The profile of the creek is widened and the creek becomes a spatial element again and at the same time divides the new and the existing houses. The inspiration for the greenstructure in the commercial area was the old structure of the woodbanks as it existed in the area around 1860.
design: 2008-2010
client: Wageningen University and Researchcenter
in collaboration with: Bureau B+B