LOLA joins Merwede

8 June 2022

The future of the city is nature. With nature being a precondition for healthy urban living, we want to bring nature to the doorstep of everyone living in the city, even in a very urban setting. That’s why we are very happy that LOLA Landscape Architects has been selected to join the areal development Merwede in Utrecht. Merwede will be a highly urban, car-free district, with a total of 6.000 houses in the southwest of the city. Focusing on the public space as Merwede biotope, we aim to design plenty of green space for biodiversity, sustainable living and relaxation in an attractive environment.

For the landscape design we teamed up with MOVE Mobility and Bureau Stadsnatuur and we work in close with the Utrecht municipality, BURA, the developers and (local) stakeholders. Our mutual goal for Merwede is to design an inviting, green and lively public space for this new urban district, with maximum urban nature and a largely car-free public space that prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists. We see Merwede as an urban nature area with a great diversity of biotopes and robust green structures, where intuitive navigation leads you to lively public spaces.

At the end of February, the Utrecht municipality gave green light for the zoning plan for the first phase of Merwede. This makes it possible to start with the construction phase for dwellings and the surrounding public space and infrastructure.

The expectation is that construction of the first 4,2500 houses in Merwede will commence in early 2023 and that the first residents will be able to move in about two years later. We are pleased that LOLA was able to start with this challenging and exciting project right away.

Design: LOLA Landscape Architects
I.c.w.: MOVE Mobility, Bureau Stadsnatuur
Client: Gemeente Utrecht i.c.w. AM, Boelens de Gruyter, BPD, Greystar, G&S Vastgoed, Janssen de Jong, Lingotto, Round Hill Capital, 3T Vastgoed, Synchroon
Urban plan: BURA, OKRA

The new district is located southwest of the city centre and Central Station

Merwede will be one of the largest inner-city, car-free districts in the Netherlands

Our ambitions are a maximum of urban nature, active public space and intuitive navigation

Current situation in Merwede

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