The City of Antwerp has developed Park Groot Schijn into a new landscape city park with its own identity. The Master Plan from 2010 states that Park Groot Schijn should become a park with space for a high-quality sports and leisure cluster, nature, allotments, youth movements, a caravan site, a cemetery and a forest playground. In the winning design “Joints and Rooms” the structures of the Master Plan is strengthened by creating human spaces with room for casual encounters and relaxation. A cohesive park tissue between the various spatial and functional elements in the park creates the connection between the residents and the new Park Groot Schijn, between landscape and city.
Park Groot Schijn hosts a large number of different (sports) clubs and associations. These all require their own space. At the same time it is a public park with corresponding public use and a very unique park identity. The public “joints” of Park Groot Schijn are the functional carriers of the park. They are major lines along which the spatial planning and imagination takes place and the most constant factor in the park. Within this green framework of joints, in the “program rooms” of various associations, an implementation of activities take place. This dual experience of the park is the basis of the design proposal.
The hub of the network of paths in Park Groot Schijn is the east-west main route between Rivierenhof and Wijnegem; it connects the city to the outskirts. This 7-meter wide path indicates the direction and forms the backbone of the park.
The main route (east-west) leads to the green park plaza, the central open space of the park. This space is formed by a sunken lawn with sitting edges, neighbored by a semi-paved informal “village square” along which the surrounding club and association buildings are grouped. The square could host the annual club barbecues, and the recessed field can be used to skate on during winter.
Project title: Antwerpen, Park Groot Schijn by BUUR-HOSPER-BULK
Designers involved in the design of landscape: HOSPER Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, BUUR | office for urbanism, BULK architecten, ARA | Atelier Ruimtelijk Advies, Doctor Skate
Websites:
Project location: Antwerp, Belgium
Design year: 2013 – 2019
Year Built: 2018- 2019
