New public park built on the site of a former gas works
Westergasfabriek is a culture park in Amsterdam created on the brownfield site of a former gas works. The master plan and landscape was designed by Kathryn Gustafson with Francine Houben of Mecanoo. Landscape elements include a large events field and theatre square as well as many promenades, gardens, forest and ponds.
Unlike most brownfield reclamation projects, Westergasfabriek incorporated the existing buildings and structures into the project retaining the history of the site. The project is also ecologically sensitive; all soil was retained and reused on site, and solar panels now grace the frame of the former gas plant.
Link: Westergasfabriek
Firm: Gustafson Porter
Firm: Mecanoo
Link: Archined - images and text (Dutch)
A new structure put over the area respects the monumental buildings and places them into a new context. The area becomes a unity where the transition from city to nature, from politics to art, from old to new can be experienced. Two different routes, a straight axis and a 'Path of Dreams', take the visitor to various places and landscapes in the park, to the Westerpark, the flower field, the forest, the area for public events, the village, the orchard, the beach, the 'Cité des Arts', the water and wild garden and finally to the landscape outside the city.
Computer generated image by VSTEP
Computer generated image by VSTEP