CASE STUDY TIDAL PARK KEILEHAVEN
Rotterdam has more than 70km of stony quays along its huge network of docks and waterways, many of which are being absorbed into new neighbourhoods. But one of the things missing in these neighbourhoods is park and leisure space. De Urbanisten has a new vision for how these former industrial areas can be retrofitted for nature and well-being, with the
Keilehaven Tidal Park the first of its kind. Instead of elevating visitors above the tide, this park celebrates the rise and fall of the tide (between 1.2m to 1.5m difference from low to high) to create a kind of beach garden filled with appropriate materials and aquatic greenery. All of it will be accessible at low tide, but only part of it at high tide. In this way, the practice hopes to: ‘Create a dynamic public space with a chance of an exceptional experience of nature, an encounter with a
kingfisher, a dragonfly or cormorant that are drawn to the rich underwater life.’ The first tidal park is set within the former industrial zone of Keilehaven. But further tidal parks are planned. Ultimately, it is hoped these will help residents to reimagine the riverside as ‘a migration route for fish and other animal species in search of rich nutrients and resting places.’ Where construction materials are
required, for this first iteration, De Urbanisten has used recycled
materials released from other city projects, such as rubble, quay cobblestones or gabions.
Client The City of Rotterdam
Architecture/landscaping De Urbanisten and ARK Nature Development
Started: 2018 Completed 2024
complains when you stick wind farms there – Flevoland produces 25% of all renewable wind energy for the country. Te housing that has arrived in this new
region has been a mix of experimental and expedient. When the first houses emerged, around 1976, they were low-rise and cheaply constructed, providing homes for the first 150,000 settlers, but they are regarded as bland at best, and were clearly not sufficiently appealing to draw more aspirational, professional residents. Since then, leading Rotterdam-based practice MVRDV – creators of Rotterdam’s iconic Rooftop walkway (infusing the upper storeys of key Rotterdam buildings with plants and walkways to create a greener ecosystem above this dense, urban city) has come up with more enticing and libertarian alternatives. MVRDV’s 2008 masterplan for Almere divided it into four regions, with a
huge amount of individual choice as to what is built, how and where (see Almere Masterplan case study). Continuing in this spirit of self-
determination, and living in balance with nature, I toured the inspiring Utopia Island project – an area of reclaimed land on the edge of Almere, which was left untouched for over 30 years, and thus was able to establish its own plant and wildlife ecology (see Utopia Island and Floriade Expo case study). Te plot is part of the local economic ecosystem too – inviting partnerships with local businesses to grow the materials to support brewing and herbal entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it offered an authentic test bed for a whole new kind of horticultural expo, Floriade, in 2022. Tidal Park Keilehaven by De Urbanisten is another fine example of waterside ecosystem restoration with the reclamation of some of Rotterdam’s hard, harbour landscaping to
create a water-fringed park (see Tidal Park Keilehaven case study). Sadly, I didn’t get to visit Utrecht where, in 2020, and at the cost of £860m, the city returned a six-lane vehicle highway into a canal, the Catharijnesingel, connecting it to an existing canal network and restoring this tranquil waterway to the condition it had enjoyed from 1122 until the 1960s when it was filled in for car use. And it was all thanks to public support from a referendum in 2002. If Dutch architects, planners and engineers are so proactive in their strategies for climate resilience and regreening, maybe it’s because they feel supported by an engaged public? Either way, there is much to be learned
from the new Dutch architecture, to find ways, as the Dutch Design Awards judges said about Marker Wadden, ‘Not to fight against water, but rather to live in harmony with it’.
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