Citymoat Gouda

The second assignment for the Major Garden Architecture was an assignment for a park on the city-moat of Gouda.

The city is famous for it’s cheese and stroopwafels. But the public space is not designed to bring out this international fame. This is why the city needed a new modern design.

The location of Gouda within the Netherlands surrounded by the well-known places.

Difference in outline of the peatlandscape

L to R. Entrances and route to downtown, Entrance and moat ambiance, formal outer ring and informal inner ring

L to R: Greenstructure analysis, entrance, and route in the project area, sight from surrounding places.

Picture analysis showing the volume of an apartment complex

Concept: accelerate, slowing down, and stopping

The concept comes from the analysis that shows that the inner and outer ring have a difference in usage. On the outer ring, people move quickly from A to B, while the irregular placement of trees hinders movement and promotes lingering.

The other important aspect is that the blind spot, which can connect the center with the moat. This is an area with great potential, which will vanish if a big structure divides and blocks the space.

Masterplan partial city-moat

Cross section acceleration outerring.

Transition from existing pavement

The three zones and their function

Detail design.

On a more detailed level, you see that there are three distinctive zones, each meant for a different target group. The cultural and library zone are connected by a building with a open ground level.