Gardens of Stene
| Context | Project |
| City: Ostend (BE) | Realisation: 2019 |
| Area (m3): | Area: urban fringe |
| Inhabitants: | Design: |
| Density: | Cost: |
The city of Ostend created the “Tuinen van Stene” - a food and waterpark of 35 ha. New types of housing, water management, urban agriculture, recreation, nature and new sorts of sustainable enterprises meet in one place at the city fringe.
There is a large focus on water buffering. In order to protect the city from flooding in the city in the future due to climate change, we must be able to retain more water in our parks and other public spaces.
De hoofdthema’s van het nieuwe park zijn stadslandbouw, zachte recreatie én natuurontwikkeling. In Vlaanderen is er weinig beschikbare ruimte, dus moeten we kiezen voor meervoudig ruimtegebruik, en dus meer functies opnemen in één terrein. In het kader van dit Europees project wordt vooral de watercaptatie binnen het gebied onder de loep genomen. Om de stad in de toekomst te vrijwaren van overstromingen ten gevolge van de klimaatverandering, moeten we meer water kunnen vasthouden in onze parken en andere publieke ruimtes. Door een intelligent ontwerp kunnen we naast de waterbuffering ook nog een hedendaags park aanleggen dat voldoet aan de behoeften van de omwonenden, jong en oud, maar dat ook potentieel heeft voor de toerist die zich even afwendt van de zee...
Essenvelt
| Context | Project |
| City: Middelburg (NL) | Realisation: 2019 |
| Area (m3): | Area: urban fringe |
| Inhabitants: | Design: |
| Density: | Cost: |
Large parts of Walcheren and Essenvelt were flooded by the sea, whereby sea water could infiltrate into the underlying soil layers. This resulted in salinization of the surface water, shallow water and root zone.
The construction of rain water buffers/fresh water lenses on the brackish to saline groundwater is a solution. The influencing factors will be examined in the climate test, such as the hydrogeological structure, drainage, water level management, seepage and infiltration flux, groundwater recharge and seepage water quality. The brackish water system is sweetened by good water management. The rainwater is collected from the neighbouring urban area. Active infiltration will increase the amount of freshwater. The fresh water will be buffered to sustain ecosystems during drought periods.
The landscape characteristics of the area will be used instead of conventional civil engineering solutions. Within the water management measures to be taken the present green corridors will be incorporated to ensure the landscape is optimally used in spatial and functional terms. About 20.000 m2 will be reshaped, including facilities to mitigate heavy rainfall and two automatic weirs.
