SVP believes in densifying the city. Urban locations are the ideal places to build much-needed housing. High-density construction is not an end in itself; above all, we want to create healthy living environments. We do this by building on the DNA of the existing city. Our additions make the city more complete and better. But living in the city is more than just having a roof over your head. Your home and the living environment are the places where you live! To avoid anonymous high-rise buildings, we therefore start the urban construction project with people in mind. Because 'one size fits nobody'.
Creating a city is not just a spatial challenge, but requires a broader perspective. It means taking responsibility for the major social challenges facing the Netherlands. As an agency with four decades of professional expertise, a track record of actual construction projects, and a penchant for complex challenges, we feel called upon to take on this urgent and challenging task. In fact, we have already started!
In our City of the Future study, we integrate today's challenges: climate adaptation, energy generation, and the mobility transition into an all-inclusive and livable city, studied on 1km2. Even as an integrated agency with architects and urban planners sitting around one table, we cannot build such a comprehensive city on our own. So we are also bringing in technologists and sociologists, entrepreneurs and residents, naturalists and transport operators. Because simple construction projects no longer exist; creating a new part of the city can only be done smartly and collaboratively.
We are at a tipping point; we are finally seeing a real change in the role of the car in the city. During lockdowns, everyone realized the quality of the 10-minute city with a bench in the park and coffee around the corner. For the first time, the car is secondary, and that makes a world of difference for us urban planners. Because now we can combine densification with greening!
In Buitenstad Hoorn, we are creating a highly urban environment connected by a sheltered, adventurous, and natural garden world. For Nieuw Weiburg, the new mixed-use station district in Harderwijk, we are drawing inspiration from the intricate world of English college towns. Both are urban living environments that are ideal for getting around on foot. In these plans, you experience the quality of a 'slow city' with the much-appreciated inner-city wandering environments of narrow streets and semi-public courtyards, with encounters and surprises. An urban environment that, not without reason, was created before the advent of the car. Proximity was and is once again the norm.
Our latest projects focus on people who walk and cycle. We have laid out a roadmap and cookbook for Utrecht on how to reduce car use and even make city centers car-free. Two pilot projects have now been implemented there and their impact is being closely monitored. Is it really true that neighborhood hubs ensure inclusive, shared mobility? Are meeting places being created that also contribute to the local economy? Are neighborhood hubs the answer to changing mobility and a planning tool for that new livable city? We believe so, because everyone would rather live next to a park than a parking lot, right?
The simple construction sites are gone; the work area is now defined by complex locations in the city with a hefty price tag. At first glance, these inner-city projects seem difficult to make profitable, but we see opportunities. Identify the benefits that such a new impulse will bring beyond the plan itself. At SVP, we strive to add something to our plans that reinforces what already exists. For example, the costly relocation of the railroad tracks in the Station Krommerijn study will result in a city that is connected to the landscape and where the number of new homes to be built can be increased tenfold. In De Lombok in Gouda, a polluted and closed-off site in the heart of the stony city will become the missing link in the chain of parks. The costs of the smaller part will yield benefits for the larger whole. We will also continue in financial terms until it is possible, and that always works.
Building in the city means building in an existing, living environment. We analyze the DNA of every city and incorporate what works well into our plans. We build on what is there and who is there. After all, cities are made by people. A transformation project means listening carefully, retaining people, and managing both the physical and social structures. Take the renovated Krachtstation Kanaleneiland, for example, which remains the center of the neighborhood where residents and entrepreneurs can meet and entrepreneurship in the neighborhood is stimulated. And where the existing social functions become the beating heart of the new building. Everyone who is there will be given a new place.
Guiding change requires not only a creative design process but also a good process design. SVP has developed the perfect tool for this with the SVP Pressurecooker methodology. Because practice makes perfect, and the city is never finished!
The city stands for more per square meter; more buildings, more people. But also more opportunities. For centuries, city dwellers have shared stairwells, rooftop terraces, and playgrounds. Those who choose to live in the city are willing to make sacrifices. Because living in the city is, by definition, about sharing. And those who share have more. More for less. We think about who we are building for. Because the standard family is no longer the norm. With Passantenpension, we designed a home for people who are temporarily and short-term homeless, with studios as compact independent living spaces and shared workspaces. But there is also room for a child to stay overnight. The Skinny House is the urban version of the Tiny House: the answer to the demand from first-time buyers who dream of an affordable 'real' home in the city. With dynamic residents, liveliness begins on the street.
Smaller and therefore more affordable living is also possible when the neighborhood is your living room. That is why our designs do not stop at the front door. In De Nieuwe Defensie, we focus on maximizing social interaction in green spaces with a continuous, finely meshed network of gardens and squares. Inner gardens serve as the front of the street where the addresses are located, in a building block that is neither closed off nor completely open. The character of the living environment is determined by the design of the transition from public to private. This is where urban planning and architecture come together. We design De Nieuwe Defensie with values such as happiness, health, care, views of greenery, and interaction, based on the most vulnerable group: children. This creates a living environment that is also pleasant for parents and the elderly, for everyone. We don't build buildings, we design spaces. Because soft boundaries make the city.
Esther is involved in planning and vision development at all scales, from buildings to cities. She focuses on connecting programmatic and social issues with spatial solutions. Fascinated by the city in all its facets, she works in various crossovers with specialists in the fields of sustainability, mobility, information technology, branding, and heritage.
Questions? Or ideas you want to discuss with us? Please contact Esther!
