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Driebond

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Driebond

The project area consists of the entire Damsterdiepzone, starting from Damsterplein to Meerstad. In the 1970s, the Driebond district became a hub for the car industry – showrooms, mechanics, parking lots, etc. – creating an urban area of separated, monofunctional units connected by monotonous, car-centered infrastructure. The individual buildings are extremely introverted, dramatically limiting the experience of variation of the public space. What if Driebond was reoriented towards its larger context?

Through history, Groningen has always been a city on the water. The all-important channels were the logistical veins of the medieval city, but with the construction of peripheral industrial sites and business parks like Driebond, Groningen's relationship with the water and the surrounding countryside has been lost. Furthermore, the one-sided planning of road infrastructure has created barriers for the possibility of urban expansion. With the current growth in population, increased pressure on infrastructure and mobility, as well as global climate change, new visionary solutions are sorely needed to combat local challenges like urban heat islands, loss of biodiversity and threats of flooding.

Strategic vision for Driebond and Damsterdiep

Blauwe wallen

We define our approach as humane responses to man-made problems - exploring the territory between building and landscape, which is seen to some extent in the cultivated or artificial landscapes of Groningen. Our aim is that an optimistic yet daring approach can inspire innovative new building and landscape typologies in the Damsterdiepzone and Driebond specifically. The area must be developed with a thorough understanding of the natural ecosystem, as well as the inherent pragmatics and paradoxes of urbanism, creating a regenerative city adapted for living.

This strategic vision rests on three main pillars:
Blue landscapes, which mitigate the effects of cloudburst events and flooding by absorbing the rainwater directly into the pavement and developing a new urban wetland as an enormous reservoir.

Human-centered mobility, establishing new connections and green paths in recognition of the fact that a city built on the terms of the car is not a city adapted for living.

Regenerative biodiversity, reintroducing wild nature into Driebond and the Damsterdiepzone to combat the urban heat island effects, increase water permeability, and create recreational public space.

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Damsterdiepzone

Water
The proposal examines three different levels of the blue landscapes. Firstly, the new urban wetlands deals with water as mitigation of climate challenges, ie. flooding and cloudburst events. Secondly, the reintroduction of the Hunze river presents the water as a natural feature and reveals old layers of history. Lastly, the existing channels speak of the use of water as infrastructure.

Transport
The existing St. Petersburgweg, which connects the inner city to Driebond and, further on, Meerstad, is an example of monotonous infrastructure planned chiefly for cars. By introducing a designated bicycle path for commuters on the edge of the Eemskanal, this principal connection is given back to soft mobility. Furthermore, a zig-zagging pedestrian path is introduced, making the area along the channel a place for recreation in itself.

Groen
Introducing dense and biodiverse areas of vegetation provides solutions to discrete issues. The asphalt road surfaces in Driebond are replaced with plants and trees, diminishing the UHI-effect. The urban wetlands along the Eemskanal provides resilience to flooding, but also establishes a connected habitat for flora and fauna. The reintroduction of the Hunze creates a green connection traversing the city.

View on the blauwe wallen

Groningen's historical blue and green land¬scapes are evoked by incorporating clima¬te and storm surge protection as integral parts of our nature-based approach. The new public space of the urban wetlands will function as both flooding reservoirs and rainwater retainers and at the same time offer a significant increase in the bio¬factor of the area. The change of landscape and seasons will lead to new recreational qualities, creating a place in its own right for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Driebond Central park creates a biodiverse, recreational public space, introducing the human scale back into the district and creating a city adapted for living.

Driebond in three steps

Rainwater
In the winter months, Driebond suffers from flooding events caused by an excess of rainwater, which cannot permeate the streetscape. By introducing the climate tile and the wetland reservoir, the area can be drained efficiently and store water for the dry summer months.

Heat
In the winter months, Driebond suffers from flooding events caused by an excess of rainwater, which cannot permeate the streetscape. By introducing the climate tile and the wetland reservoir, the area can be drained efficiently and store water for the dry summer months.

Green
The term biofactor is a tool used to measure and quantify the level of biodiversity, quality of vegetation, possibility for habitats, etc. in a given area. The current amount of paved areas in Driebond gives the area an abysmal score. By introducing the Hunze Park, the Central Park and the Urban Wetlands, as well as diminishing asphalted road areas, the biofactor can soar, improving the environment for both humans and animals.

Driebond: existing situation

Currently, the Driebond district is dominated by asphalted roads, paved parking lots, and the individual buildings standing mutely side by side. Only one side of the road has a pavement for pedestrians, and there is no vegetation of note.

Driebond: future development

2025
We propose to establish new sidewalks paved with the Climate Tile - a scalable system that can receive, lead, and retain huge amount of rainwater. The water is collected through holes in the top layer, and the system directs it into either sewers, adjoining plant beds or to a connected reservoir. This allows the planting of trees, bushes and grasses that can boost the biodiversity of the area, absorb rainwater, and remedy the UHI-effect.

2035
In this future vision, Driebond has been utterly revolutionized! The existing buildings have been transformed, now housing businesses focused on sustainable green mobility and electric cars, as well as pioneering urban greenhouses with aquaponic farms. The Driebond Central park creates a biodiverse, recreational public space, introducing the human scale back into the district and creating a city adapted for living.

Future of Driebond and the Damsterdiepzone

In this speculative drawing, we unfold a dream for the future of Driebond and the Damsterdiepzone. Before you lies a new district of Groningen, transformed from industrial monoculture to diverse regenerative city and pioneering innovative solutions to the problems created by global climate change. Existing buildings are adapted for new purposes instead of being demolished, keeping the carbon bound in the structures at hand. The ever-present water is made accessible, creating recreational and green public spaces while emphasizing Groningen’s historical aquatic connections - creating a new blue center for the city.

The streets are futureproofed against cloudburst events by reclaiming the asphalt in favor of perforated Climate Tiles and dense vegetation, which also serve to mitigate the extreme Urban Heat Island effect. The inner city is connected to Meerstad with infrastructure favoring soft mobility, zig-zagging its way through the new urban wetlands – an interpretation of Groningen’s historical fortifications acting like an enormous natural reservoir for rainwater. Towards the south, a recreative promenade and “strand” is planned, emphasizing Groningen’s relation to the canal, the Hunze, and the industrial history, thereby seeking to connect the Driebond with the remaining city. Lastly, we show a vision for the expansion of the city, which is based on a natural network of green corridors, rather than vehicular infrastructure – creating a future development area that can progressively expand and adapt based on the needs of the city.

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Phasing

Fase 1: laaghangend fruit
De wegen van Driebond worden eenrichtingsverkeer. Het boventallige asfalt wordt vervangen door beplanting en de Klimaattegel, waardoor wateroverlast in Driebond verleden tijd is.

Fase 2: verbindingen met de stad
De volgende fase verbindt de gehele Damsterdiepzone met het stedelijk weefsel van Groningen. Enerzijds door het realiseren van een langzame route van de binnenstad naar Meerstad door het stedelijk wetland en anderzijds door het herstel van de groenblauwe verbinding van de Hunzeloop.

Fase 3: groene stadsontwikkeling
Een netwerk van groene corridors strekt uit van Driebond en het wetland naar de omgeving en biedt kansen voor toekomstige stadsuitbreidingen. Deze groene infrastructuur biedt kansen voor herstel van flora en fauna en gaat uit van een stadsontwikkeling die gebaseerd is op langzaam verkeer.

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About the designers

Tredje Natur

THIRD NATURE was founded in 2012 and is a Copenhagen-based architecture studio, with a multi-disciplinary design approach specialized in the fields of climate-adapted landscapes, hybrid buildings and sustainable urban planning. Within the name, THIRD NATURE, lies a strong belief and agenda to merge buildings and biology into a new city-nature typology. The office calls their approach ‘humane responses to man-made problems’. They explore the territory between building and landscape and between the natural and the cultural. This optimistic yet challenging approach leads to innovative proposals for new building typologies and landscapes, that are developed with a deep understanding of the nature and the ecosystem, as well as the pragmatics of our cities, buildings, and profession. THIRD NATURE tries in every project to show and encourage the world with new positivistic approaches and ideas to deal with future urban challenges.

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