De Nieuwe Defensie: along the Merwedekanaal
Along the Merwedekanaal (Merwede Canal) in Utrecht, a low-traffic, climate-adaptive and cohesive urban district will emerge, combined with the convenience of urban amenities: De Nieuwe Defensie. De Nieuwe Defensie should become an oasis of calm at the edge of the Utrecht city centre. The master plan was made by SVP Architecture and Urban Design in collaboration with OKRA Landscape Architects and Arup. In this plan, ANA is working with a team of architects to design three housing blocks with a total of 900 homes.
Project
De Nieuwe Defensie
Client
BPD Gebiedsontwikkeling
Location
Utrecht
Program
3 building blocks, 34 buildings, 600 houses
Period
2018-ongoing
Status
Under construction
Project:
Client:
Program:
Team:
Location:
Period:
Status:
De Nieuwe Defensie
BPD Gebiedsontwikkeling
3 building blocks, 34 buildings, 900 homes
ANA architecten, MLA+, Inbo, CROSS Architecture, OKRA, SVP
Utrecht
2018-ongoing
Under construction
This will include homes for families, apartments for first-time buyers and park villas. The buildings in the area are of varying heights, each with its own architectural appearance and unique housing quality for different target groups. The homes are strongly connected to their surroundings and have a strong relationship with the outdoor spaces due to a carefully designed transition between the inside and outside. A unique element of the plan is the oversize of the homes. In this way, space is created for working from home, playing or providing care.
Greenery is an important theme of De Nieuwe Defensie. The blocks border on the Merwedepark, an elongated park that stretches to the banks of the Merwedekanaal. It is a low-traffic district and the streets are landscaped with greenery. There are large collective gardens in the blocks that, in addition to contributing to the Merwede biotope and the water system, also have a lot of practical value.
The Skywalk is located on the roof of Block 3. This is a special element in De Nieuwe Defensie. This roof garden is accessible to occupants and offers many potential uses. The Skywalk is always visible from the street as a hidden gem, a special world on the roofs of the buildings in Block 3 that occasionally shows itself to the outside world.
De Nieuwe Defensie will be built in three phases. ANA is working with MLA+ on the design for about 120 homes in Blocks 1 and 2 that will be built in the first phase.
Related projects
