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Brainport Smart District Helmond

The Smartest Neighbourhood in the World

Brainport Smart District is a new innovative neighbourhood, located in Helmond. BSD will be a ‘living lab’: a mixed quarter organised around a central park and surrounded by business spaces and natural reserves. The smart district is planned based on the latest insights and techniques, resulting in a research and community-based environment. BSD aims to develop a new relationship between buildings and landscape, whereby both strengthen each other qualitatively. Felixx designed the landscape for BSD as a productive environment for food, energy, water, waste processing and biodiversity.  

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Key aspects of the Landscape Strategy

Over the next ten years the Brainport Smart District will develop 1,500 new homes and 12 hectares of business premises. The development will be characterised by the application of the latest technologies and knowledge in order to achieve a sustainable, circular and socially cohesive neighbourhood that enjoys joint energy generation, food production, water management, joint digital data management and revolutionary transport systems. All of these facets will contribute to the creation of a sustainable and unique living environment.

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Historical Layout for a Future Landscape

The current landscape has historically grown into a rich mosaic, of forests, moors, villages and wetland areas. They are functioning as individual worlds within a shared layout, but are missing the opportunity to be turned into collaborative environment and harness synergies. Therefore, Brainport Smart District is committed to generate a new hybrid landscape that merges urban, nature and agriculture grounds. Felixx developed 4 spatial frameworks to organize this landscape of the future.

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1. MOSAIC LANDSCAPE

The ‘Hybrid Landscape’ builds on the historical mosaic tiles of the existing landscape. BSD is planned as a residential neighbourhood, organized around a central park and surrounded by rural grounds. This layout is defined by the characteristics of the site, and the potential to contribute to regional networks.

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2. PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE

Both the urban development areas, central park and rural grounds are perceived as productive spaces, where a mix of living, working and leisure is facilitated. To merge all these functions, the landscape is parcelled into a variation of lots with different sizes and shapes, in line with the nature of each environment. Each plot combines a productive role in food and energy production, water management, waste processing and biodiversity generation.

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3. SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

The organization of the production landscape creates new partnerships and social networks within BSD. The plots are organized into a series of strips (from north to south) that demarcates the district into ten parts. Within each strip production and consumption streams are closed. Residents are encouraged to adopt communal resource schemes such as shared energy generation and land cultivation.

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4. CONNECTED LANDSCAPE

The ‘Hybrid Landscape’ performs as a connected realm. New linear landscape structures will frame the different plots, while connecting the outer rural grounds with the central park and the urban settlements. As a conditioning framework, these ‘landscape-lines’ contribute to the functioning of the plots they frame. They add to the fertility and water management of agricultural land, provide shade and water infiltration possibilities in built-up areas, or combine ecological values with recreational use in the park. They integrate an amazing slow traffic network for visitors and residents.

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Year

2018 - current

Location

Helmond, The Netherlands

Type

Research, Masterplan, Landscape, Public Space

Client

Brainport Smart District
Technical University Eindhoven
Tilburg University
Province of Noord-Brabant
Municipality of Helmond
Brainport Development

Size

150 ha

Awards

2020 Rethinking The Future Awards [winner]

Publications

Volkskrant
Designboom
World Architecture
E-Architect
Architectenweb
De Architect
Blauwe Kamer
Metalocus
ArchDaily
India Art n Design
Bouw en Uitvoering
Stadszaken
urbanNext
Metabolic
Dezeen
Inhabitat
Archello
World Landscape Architect
Archilovers
New York Times

Team & partners

Michiel Van Driessche
Marnix Vink
Deborah Lambert
Maria E. Castrillo
Fangfei Liu
Ilva Mishtaku
UNStudio
Metabolic
Habidatum
UNSense

Renders ©Plomp

List
  1. Nature Based City of Almere
  2. Oude Landen, Antwerpen
  3. Strategic Green Plan Leuven
  4. Leutje Leidraad, Groningen
  5. Rijnvliet, Edible Neighborhood
  6. Vief Kwartier
  7. Eemsdelta Campus
  8. The Newton
  9. Astridplein, Antwerp
  10. Dennenheuvel, Bloemendaal
  11. Regulateur Gruno district
  12. Jonas Amsterdam
  13. K64 keflavík airport area masterplan
  14. Railroad Zone Amsterdam
  15. From node to place
  16. Masterplan Flora Campus Westland
  17. Alongside the Schie
  18. New Space - Design Guideline Liveability of Public Space, Groningen
  19. From Airport to Birdport
  20. Brabant Water, Eindhoven
  21. Brouwershaven
  22. Brainport Industries Campus
  23. Hondsrug Park Amsterdam
  24. Yangmeikeng Sea Boulevard
  25. Healthy Tracks
  26. Towards a healthy city by foot
  27. Floating Gardens, Amsterdam
  28. The Unbound Amsterdam
  29. Seaside Gardens, Gufunes
  30. Brainport Smart District Helmond
  31. The Swan, Zwolle (NL)
  32. Spatial Framework Blankenburg Süden, Berlin
  33. 'Typhoon-proof' Shenzhen's East Coast
  34. Circular City Bodø 2.0
  35. A green entrance for the airport
  36. Public Space Alpen
  37. Cartesius Quarter
  38. Historic Delfshaven
  39. Isle of Dikes
  40. Smakkelaarsveld Utrecht
  41. Darmstadt Masterplan 2030+
  42. Bao’An G107 Corridor
  43. Master Plan Ter Aar, Nieuwkoop
  44. Waterfront Novosibirsk
  45. Almazov National Medical Research Centre
  46. Strategic Urban Green Study
  47. Public Space Strategy Kanpur
  48. Quartierlandschaft Dietenbach
  49. ImageWharf
  50. Ódinstorg Square
  51. Overloon War Museum
  52. Lokhalle Leverkusen
  53. Ludlstrasse Munich
  54. Redevelopment Strategy Vogabyggð
  55. City life in the woods
  56. Schie Quarter Schiedam
  57. Socio-technical city of the future
  58. Buji River
  59. Vaskhnil Novosibirsk
  60. Precincts Canterbury Cathedral
  61. Maritime Campus Almere
  62. Resilient Riverscape Berat
  63. Sijthoff
  64. Strategic Plan Shkodra
  65. Ekaterinburg City Campus
  66. Transformation Strategy Gufunes
  67. Transformation Strategy Chelyabinsk
  68. Fish Market Leuven
  69. Zinder Culture Cluster
  70. Redevelopment plan Bergschenhoek centre
  71. Food Innovation Strip Ede-Wageningen
  72. S4 Highway Hangzhou
  73. Strategic Plan Fier
  74. Strategic Plan Elbasan
  75. Kronenburg Business Park
  76. Dharavi Mumbai
  77. Ásbrú Enterprise Park
  78. Asylum Seekers Center Ter Apel
  79. Berlin Am Volkspark
  80. The Museum of the 20th Century
  81. Gardabaer
  82. Metropolitan Westerpark Amsterdam
  83. Science and Technology City Chongqing
  84. Yue Xiu 353 Transformation
  85. 5YN3RGY
  86. Erlongshan Recreational Park
  87. Danxia Recreational Park
  88. Campus Lelystad
  89. Proto Tamansari
  90. City Gardens Tyumen
  91. Park Somerlust Amsterdam
  92. Bandar Lampung Park
  93. R&D Campus Fengxian
  94. S-West Eindhoven
  95. Biodiversity based dairy farming
  96. Heidelberg Creative Quarter
  97. Barendrecht Vrouwenpolder
  98. Mobility transformation of Haarlem Europaweg
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