Eiland Veur Lent
Location: Nijmegen, Holland
Client: GEM Waalsprung
Team: Royal Haskoning
Status: Under Construction
Value: Confidential
Baca Architects were the sole UK practice asked to join the international list of Architects to draw up proposals for a peninsula that will be created as part of an extensive dyke relocation programme to make ‘Room for the River’ Waal. The brief calls for a 70m residential tower, new footbridge, approx. 200 houses and a new theatre. Baca’s design works with water, rather than defending against it, and evolves strategies developed in the Dordrecht flood-proof pilot and LifE project research for Defra.
The project will be one of the largest ‘Room for the River’ projects in Europe. Baca was invited to draw up plans for the ‘island’ that will be created between the River Waal and a new flood-relief channel (gully). Our proposal for an island ‘Retreat’ combines water recreation, river ecology, flood-resilient development and sustainable infrastructure to create a self-sufficient ‘eco-leisure’ destination.New features have been designed to weave harmoniously with the natural setting, uniting local history with new ideas and innovation. Amongst other features, a green bridge, spanning the new flood-relief channel, is located in place of a section of the old dyke in a nod to the former defence, and the lost Fort Knodesburg is brought back to life by a public square and activity centre.
A water arena is created in the centre of the relief channel, providing a semi-enclosed water space for water sports, boating and a floating stage to be used for performances. The project is envisaged to unite on many levels, fusing the past with the future, harmonising nature with development and re-connecting residents with the water.
The Making Space for Water programme marks a paradigm shift in flood mitigation – by designing developments that make space for floodwater and work in harmony with natural processes, rather than building dykes and levees that limit flood storage and can be overtopped.
The Eiland Veur Lent project received the MIPIM AR Future Project Awards 2014 for Masterplanning and Regeneration.
The judges commented: "Accepting that water level are rising, rather than fighting a losing battle against them, is the basis for this clever design approach to an apparently intractable tidal problem. Working round a problem rather than confronting it directly is a smart approach to a universal problem."
Excavation of the flood-relief channel began in 2013.