Children's Centre IKC de Vaart
A country estate the whole village shares
In Ter Aar, a civic landscape is taking root. De Zwart Hond designed the children's centre IKC De Vaart for the municipality of Nieuwkoop. Under one roof it holds a daycare, a primary school, a youth and family centre, a library and a shared sports hall. Felixx made the masterplan around it, weaving those programmes into one green landscape that grows with the neighbourhood.
Key info
- Year
- 2018 - 2021
- Type
- Educational, Masterplan, Park, Public Space, Sports
- Size
- 4ha
- Location
- Westkanaalweg, The Netherlands
- Client
- Nieuwkoop municipality
- Status
- Realised
Five plots become one estate
The municipality saw an opportunity. Existing sports fields, the Scouting Wapata grounds and the Argonnepark sat side by side. Each served its own users within its own boundary. Together they could be worth far more.
Felixx rooted the masterplan in a country estate. An estate is one landscape holding many uses. A main building sits within its grounds. A structure of lanes and planting carries across the whole property. The edges read as a single place. That logic now organises the site into a lush and legible landscape. It complements the architecture of the children's centre, draws in the surrounding landscape and reaches into the wider municipality.
One place from every edge
Like a well-tended country estate, the landscape is generous, structured and consistent. Paths, roads and surfaces carry vibrant colours and materials that mark the whole park as one place. Entrances, signage and furnishings share the same estate language. The result is a clear and inviting character, and a visitor arriving at any edge knows at once where they are.
Each function strengthens the next
The programmes of the site support one another. Primary school children play football on the sports fields. The daycare reaches into the scouting grounds. Community events spill into the sports hall. Natural play elements shape the public space, giving children room to move, explore and learn between the buildings. Each function strengthens the next. The place grows more valuable through use.
Four rooms, four characters
The site is organised into distinct landscape rooms. Each has its own identity, programme and spatial character. The children's centre anchors the whole as the central hub. The tennis and football fields form the sports room. The scouting grounds and the Argonnepark each bring something else again. Together the rooms give the site a rhythm that is structured and alive, one that children, families and neighbours learn quickly and return to.
The individual landscape rooms
Clear routing and connections
Embedded in its surrondings
Open from every direction
IKC De Vaart sits inside its neighbourhood. Clear, safe routes and easily found entrances weave the site into it. Separate car and bicycle access keeps arrival and departure smooth. A new network of public paths branches through the site. It links the neighbourhood to each landscape room, and keeps the whole area open and accessible to everyone.
More info
- team
- Felixx
- De Zwarte Hond
- DG Groep
- photography/visuals
- Felixx
- Nadine van den Berg
