IKC De Vaart transforms a children’s centre into a shared green campus for education, sports and community life. Designed by Felixx Landscape Architects and Planners together with De Zwarte Hond, it brings together a daycare, elementary school, youth and family centre, library, and shared sports hall into a single, coherent green landscape that grows with the neighbourhood around it.

Masterplan Ter Aar Estate

The project began with the ambition to connect the new school building to its wider surroundings. Existing sports fields, the nearby scouting grounds and the Argonnepark were brought together into one continuous landscape where learning, recreation and nature overlap. Inspired by the structure of a contemporary country estate, the centre translates the spatial requirements into an inviting design that complements the architecture of the children’s centre, engages the surrounding landscape, and grows outward to connect with the wider city.

A Multifunctional Landscape

Rather than separating functions, the design encourages shared and multifunctional use throughout the site. Children play and exercise on the adjacent sports fields, the daycare makes use of the scouting grounds, and the sports hall accommodates both school and local community activities. Public space is shaped with natural play elements that invite movement, curiosity, and learning. Each function strengthens the next, creating a place that grows more valuable through use.

Landscape Rooms

The area is organised into a series of distinct ‘landscape rooms’, each with its own atmosphere and use. Sports fields, natural play areas, public green spaces and school grounds are connected through clear pathways and shared open spaces. The children’s centre acts as the central heart of the campus, while the surrounding landscape encourages movement, interaction and outdoor learning. Together, these rooms create a spatial rhythm that is both structured and alive, a landscape that children, families, and neighbours can read, use, and return to. A coherent palette of materials, planting and furnishings gives the campus a clear and recognisable identity. Paths, entrances and public spaces are designed as one landscape family, creating spatial unity while ensuring a welcoming and accessible environment for all.

Connectivity and Accessibility

IKC De Vaart is embedded in its wider neighbourhood rather than set apart from it. The masterplan weaves the site into its broader context through clear, safe routes and easily recognisable entrances. Separate car and bicycle access keeps movement safe and smooth. A new network of public paths branches through the site, connecting the neighbourhood with each landscape room and making the whole area open and accessible to all.

IKC De Vaart is more than a school campus; it is a living landscape where learning, recreation, and community life come together. By placing nature, shared use, and accessibility at its core, the project creates an inspiring, resilient, and inclusive environment that continues to grow with its users.

Client:
Nieuwkoop municipality

Team:
Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners (masterplan & Landscape Architecture)
De Zwarte Hond (Architects)
DG Groep

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