JavaScript is off. Please enable it to view the full site.

Cartesius Quarter

Mixed-use urban district, Utrecht [NL]

The Cartesius quarter is bounded by the railway lines to Amsterdam and The Hague and enclosed by the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal as a triangle. Where the Stadsbuitengracht, as a canal and former defense structure, frames the city center of Utrecht, the tracks, together with the slope and the canal, form the defense work of the Cartesius quarter. The sheltered location between the tracks offers the unique opportunity to create a personal environment: a surprising enclave in the city.

felixx-cartesius-map1.jpg

This creates a coherent high urban living environment with a stubborn and inventive character. A character that is a continuation of an industrial past in which seclusion has always ensured an independent place in the city. First as a noisy railway workshop and then as a quiet business park. With the rediscovery of this hidden potential, a unique transformation area is located just steps away from the inner city.

felixx-cartesius-masterplan.jpg

Neighborhoods

The cozy, intimate courtyards and inner gardens of the Utrecht city center are the urban inspiration to break up the inner worlds in Cartess to a smaller grain size. Within the construction fields there is a series of neighborhoods with a system of alleyways, lanes, collective courtyards and inner gardens. With encounters and spontaneous or planned collective activities as a supporting theme. The result is an area with many slow-traffic routes and bright places, where, for example, you can play. At the same time these places ensure a pleasant collectivity, you feel at home because you are part of a neighborhood.

felixx-cartesius-axobuildings.jpg

Cartesiuspark 

The different neighborhoods are interconnected by the Cartesiuspark. This car-free green heart offers all the freedom to relax, play and invites to meet. The Cartesiuspark has three atmospheres with a Utrecht character: the Square, the Park and the Court. This combination of different places creates a distinct and lively inner area. Within these three spheres there are three public anchor points: the CAB building on the square, the pond in the Park and the food pavilion in the Court.

The park is visually extended into the surrounding neighborhoods, which increases the experience. In turn, neighborhoods derive their identity from the different spheres of the Cartesius Park. The transitions between the residences, collective courtyards and the Cartesiuspark have been carefully designed with differences in height and diversity in material types. Physically, the transition is subtle, but clearly marked in management.

felixx-cartesius-dorpentotaal.jpg

axo-dorpen-plein.jpgaxo-dorpen-park.jpgaxo-dorpen-hoven.jpg

Green urban loop

The urban loop forms the green belt around Cartess and is at the same time the connection with the surrounding city. The urban loop establishes – as an important access zone – the link with the environment. The bicycle tunnel under the railway continues this and via the urban loop you will pass an attractive square space that connects the CAB building and station Zuilen. The terrace zones at the front of the buildings along the urban loop provide space for informal use. In addition to the logistics function, the urban loop is a versatile and green 3D sports park. It also functions as a temporary and changing climate landscape. The deepened sports fields are connected to temporary watercourses, sometimes as shallow gutters in the promenade and sometimes as water channels in the green dike. Together they form a buffer during heavy rainfall. Then a stream of water forms in the gutters and the sport fields change into temporary water collection.

felixx-cartesius-fortification.jpg

axo-fortificatie-regen.jpgaxo-fortificatie-regenboog.jpgaxo-fortificatie-zon.jpg

Materialization

The materialization of the landscape supports both diversity and cohesion between the different spaces. In the park and gardens, a collection of warm and tactile materials, generous flowering vegetation and characteristic native trees unites the monumental square, scenic park and organically formed court. The materialization of the linear sports park deviates from the inner park, robust pavement is combined with big gestures in topography, large planters and monumental tree lanes.

felixx-cartesius-sections.jpg

Year

2017

Location

Utrecht, The Netherlands

Type

Masterplan

Client

Aalberts
AM
Blauwhoed
BOEi

Size

15 ha

Team & partners

Michiel Van Driessche
Marnix Vink
Deborah Lambert
Steven Broekhof
Mariya Protsyk
Zofia Krzykawska
Ilva Mishtaku
Fanny Genti
Klaudio Ruci
Elan Redekop van der Meulen
Robert-Jan van der Linden
Yuying Shen
Iris van der Walle
Jvantspijker & partners
Barcode Architects
Fabrications
Next Architects
Plein06

List
  1. Rijnvliet, Edible Neighborhood
  2. Vief Kwartier
  3. The Newton
  4. Regulateur Gruno district
  5. Eemsdelta Campus
  6. Jonas Amsterdam
  7. K64 keflavík airport area masterplan
  8. Railroad Zone Amsterdam
  9. From node to place
  10. Masterplan Flora Campus Westland
  11. Alongside the Schie
  12. New Space - Design Guideline Liveability of Public Space, Groningen
  13. From Airport to Birdport
  14. Brainport Industries Campus
  15. Hondsrug Park Amsterdam
  16. Yangmeikeng Sea Boulevard
  17. Healthy Tracks
  18. Towards a healthy city by foot
  19. Floating Gardens, Amsterdam
  20. The Unbound Amsterdam
  21. Seaside Gardens, Gufunes
  22. Brainport Smart District Helmond
  23. The Swan, Zwolle (NL)
  24. Spatial Framework Blankenburg Süden, Berlin
  25. 'Typhoon-proof' Shenzhen's East Coast
  26. Circular City Bodø 2.0
  27. A green entrance for the airport
  28. Public Space Alpen
  29. Cartesius Quarter
  30. Isle of Dikes
  31. Smakkelaarsveld Utrecht
  32. Darmstadt Masterplan 2030+
  33. Bao’An G107 Corridor
  34. Master Plan Ter Aar, Nieuwkoop
  35. Waterfront Novosibirsk
  36. City Square Tyumen
  37. Almazov National Medical Research Centre
  38. Strategic Urban Green Study
  39. Public Space Strategy Kanpur
  40. Quartierlandschaft Dietenbach
  41. ImageWharf
  42. Ódinstorg Square
  43. Overloon War Museum
  44. Lokhalle Leverkusen
  45. Ludlstrasse Munich
  46. Yaanila Country Park
  47. Redevelopment Strategy Vogabyggð
  48. Villa Garden
  49. City life in the woods
  50. Schie Quarter Schiedam
  51. Socio-technical city of the future
  52. Buji River
  53. Vaskhnil Novosibirsk
  54. Precincts Canterbury Cathedral
  55. Maritime Campus Almere
  56. Resilient Riverscape Berat
  57. Sijthoff
  58. Strategic Plan Shkodra
  59. Ekaterinburg City Campus
  60. Transformation Strategy Gufunes
  61. Transformation Strategy Chelyabinsk
  62. Fish Market Leuven
  63. Zinder Culture Cluster
  64. Food Innovation Strip Ede-Wageningen
  65. S4 Highway Hangzhou
  66. Strategic Plan Fier
  67. Strategic Plan Elbasan
  68. Kronenburg Business Park
  69. Dharavi Mumbai
  70. Masterplan Smáralind Mall
  71. Urban Test Farm Emmen
  72. Ásbrú Enterprise Park
  73. Asylum Seekers Center Ter Apel
  74. Berlin Am Volkspark
  75. The Museum of the 20th Century
  76. Gardabaer
  77. Metropolitan Westerpark Amsterdam
  78. Science and Technology City Chongqing
  79. Yue Xiu 353 Transformation
  80. 5YN3RGY
  81. Erlongshan Recreational Park
  82. Danxia Recreational Park
  83. Campus Lelystad
  84. Proto Tamansari
  85. City Gardens Tyumen
  86. Park Somerlust Amsterdam
  87. Bandar Lampung Park
  88. R&D Campus Fengxian
  89. S-West Eindhoven
  90. Biodiversity based dairy farming
  91. Heidelberg Creative Quarter
  92. Barendrecht Vrouwenpolder
All projects Previous 34 / 100 Next Back to top Show on the map 246753 views